Great Teacher Nagisa
by Professional Magical Girl
Summary: While Nagisa teaches Class 3-5 of Paradise High, a nefarious intrigue puts the school in peril. Rated M for profanity.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello lovely people! Have this fic about teacher Nagisa. It should go without saying I don't own AssClass.**

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"I do hope you can kill me. Before graduation, that is." These words rung in the ears of class 3-5 all that day, and many days following.

It was Nagisa Shiota's first day of teaching at Paradise High, and to say that this was not the class he had hoped for would be an understatement. The walls had been festooned with profanities, various garbage littered the floor, and- was that _broken glass_? The room reeked of ashes- did these students commit arson in here? The blinds on the windows were broken and holes were punched in the wall. Nagisa could have sworn he saw a small animal scurry across the floor. He hoped it was a bug and not a mouse. Nagisa sighed.

The thing one might say he had in his favor at the moment was that he seemed to have earned the class's fear... For now. But Nagisa wasn't so sure he wanted his students to fear him. What he really wanted was their trust. And their respect.

After the ... incident that morning, a tense atmosphere fell upon the classroom. This did not go unnoticed by the student teacher. _Maybe I went a bit too far..._ Nagisa thought. _Well, I did just ask them to kill me. They probably think I'm insane. They're scared of little old me._ He decided to try to lighten the atmosphere a bit. Show them he's a competent teacher.

He had given them a series of short exams, just to see if everyone was on the same page, what their strengths and weaknesses were... Right now was math. And Ichiro Kagato, the student who confronted him earlier, had spent the last ten minutes staring at the same question. No movement at all, just an obvious expression of frustration and anger. He approached the delinquent.

Nagisa looked at the paper. It did not escape him that Kagato was shuddering in his seat, and looked like he was ready to bolt from the whole building. Nagisa had to suppress an eyeroll. The question was at a ninth grade level! They made eye contact, shakily.

 _I can't point out his flaw in front of the whole class_ , Nagisa considered. _What would Koro-sensei do..._ A lightbulb went off in his head.

"Kagato," The student broke the eye contact they had. "You have cleaning duty today after school." He decided arbitrarily. "You and... Uhh, Izumoto." The towering teen had spectacularly bombed the English exam, in a way Nagisa hadn't seen even during his days in E Class.

"What?!" Kagato practically jumped out of his seat. "No I don't! You just made that up!" Upon realizing that the rest of the class was amused by his outburst, he switched his tone from scared as hell to "manly" and assertive. "I mean, uhh... I never did cleaning duty before!" It was true, he had been assigned it many times but had always refused to show.

"Well you will in this classroom."

Classes had ended for the day. The sun had shifted in the sky, sending red and orange light upon everything in the classroom. The shattered glass gave off a rainbow. How poetic, Nagisa thought. Sugaya might like to paint this image. He smiled at the memory of his old classroom. Nagisa packed his bag but stayed in the room, making things very awkward for Kagato and Izumoto.

"I'm not leaving anytime soon." He grinned at both students. The two stared at each other with an expression of what-the-fuck-did-we-get-ourselves-into. To an outsider, it would seem odd that a pair of seasoned troublemakers with perputual frowns, both of whom stood at least six feet tall, were cowering in fear of an effeminate 5'3 student teacher who could easily pass for a junior high kid. Nagisa tossed two sponges at them.

Once the board was scrubbed completely clean, Nagisa tapped the meterstick he found unceremoniously shoved into a corner and presumably forgotten about against the wall, as so to draw attention. "Don't bother with the rest of the room." His two pupils sighed in relief. "That will be a class effort, tomorrow."

He held out the meterstick to block their escape route. "But don't go just yet."

Kagato tried to muster up some confidence. "You tryin' to trap us here?"

"Yeah, Shiota-sensei, we were gonna go shoot bottle rockets."

Nagisa put down the meterstick and picked up a piece of chalk. "Do you know why I asked you to stay after?" He punctuated the inquiry with a head tilt.

"Because you needed the board clean?" Izumoto was clearly going to be a little difficult to get through to.

"Because you're a dick?" Kagato tried to project an alpha male façade.

Nagisa laughed it off. "No, and no." He walked to the squeaky clean board, twirling the chalk between his fingers. "Extra lessons." The teens groaned.

"Take a seat." He instructed them. They reluctantly obeyed. "I'm going to tell you what someone told me when I was even younger than you." A certain mach 20 yellow octopus flashed in his mind.

"Sometimes," Nagisa began writing on the chalkboard "You need to tackle a problem bit by bit before you look at the big picture." He stopped to breathe. "Let's start with something simple..."

He wrote X(5+8)=78. In bright pink chalk. That should grab their attention.

"Look at the parenthesis first. Five plus eight equals thirteen" He then wrote the sum on the board. It was now 13X = 78. "Then divide the product by 13... And you have your answer!"

Kagato's face reflected that he was... indecisive, to say the least. He didn't know whether to be impressed that this new instructor, fresh out of college, would take time out of his day to give special attention to _him_ , or offended that his weaknesses were being acknowledged. And there was also that feeling that he could be killed at any moment...

Nagisa continued on. "This can be applied to other subjects. For instance, English-" He paused. I should go easy again. Nagisa decided. He turned back to the board. 私は学校にあるきます。Watashi wa gakkou ni arukimasu. "It translates to 'I walk to school'. Something you should be doing tomorrow morning," Nagisa noted with chargin, as he had heard that this class was infamous for truancy. "Translate it word by word. Watashi becomes I, gakkou becomes school, and aruku is to walk." He paced between the two occupied desks. "Know what the words are, then remember that English is subect-object-verb."

Izumoto, who had spent grades nine through eleven staring out the window looking for butterflies, was suddenly transfixed. His expression was more certain than his classmate's: he was shocked that he had never considered this method, and that someone had been able to explain it to him. He had been fidgeting with the sponge at his desk, but suddenly dropped it.

Nagisa knew by their reactions that they had plenty to think about for the day. Smiling, he handed them study guides he had printed out before in anticipation. "Well, I'll see you again tomorrow."

Kagato and Izumoto did not know what to do or say next. They just stared at each other. It was then that they remembered their teacher's words. _I do hope you can kill me. Before graduation, that is._

Just as Nagisa was at the door, a projectile came flying at him. There was no noise, and he did not see it, but he knew it was approaching. He twirled around effortlessly- almost like a ballerina- and caught the 'weapon'. One of the sponges they just used. With a chuckle, the bluenette placed it on his own desk.

"I see you've taken my request seriously. But just some advice, please do try to be... more subtle." Their bloodlust was overwhelming. It was a dead giveaway. Once again, the pair of classmates were left dumbfounded and in awe, staring at Shiota-sensei as he exited the room.

While Nagisa walked to the train station, he couldn't help but repeat a mantra to himself. One that got him all through high school and college. _Koro-sensei, I swear I'll make you proud._

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 **There you go. Constructive criticism is always welcome.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! After this chapter I plan on slowing down with introducing new characters so it's not too much to keep straight at once. Also expect cameos from E Class in a few chapters. Please review!**

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Nagisa slipped off his shoes after entering the front door of the flat. "Tadaima," He said to no one in particular, knowing that Kayano wouldn't be home for at least another hour. She was at that little 3-E reunion that was being held at the old stomping grounds. So Nagisa decided to make dinner. He went into the kitchen to start the rice cooker.

 _What even is the case with Kayano and I..._ He wondered, staring at the crystal chandelier that hung from the dining room ceiling. He went over the facts in his head.

It all began in April of last year. She came back to Kunugigaoka to film that new drama series that would soon take the nation by storm. She called him to announce it, and that she was staying for good, and they reconnected.

 _We started spending a lot of time together,_ Nagisa thought as he cracked an egg against the countertop. He was still in college then. She'd come over to his apartment to memorize her scripts, he would stay with her when his then-roommate and his roommate's girlfriend were fighting... _The last time I heard screaming like that was when my parents got divorced. It brought back bad memories._ He threw the eggshell out.

Then one night in July, everything changed. _It was just a few days after I turned twenty-two. We were at her place-_ Now it was _their_ place. It was 4 am, they were completely alone, it was hot as hell even with the ac on full blast. She was struggling with performing one of her scenes, so he was helping her by reading the other part. It was a confession scene. She was suddenly able to deliver the lines perfectly- But she stopped abruptly in the middle. Everything stopped. Time itself stopped.

She gave him that look, one he had become all too familiar with in the past year. The one that means she was going to open up about something. Be vulnerable. And that she wasn't acting anymore. "Make love to me". She demanded. _And I complied. Rather enthusiastically._ Nagisa didn't blush at the memory anymore.

Then it started happening every once in a while. Then it became a regular thing. Then in December his roomie announced his intentions to move his girlfriend into their apartment by New Year's. Nagisa immediately looked to move out. He couldn't take another year of waking up in the middle of the night to screaming about whatever issue it was this week, the sound of glasses breaking, and then... Silence. Then Kayano told him, blushing, that he could move in with her.

Now it was late March. And it had been perfect. Living with the woman he loved, in an opulent one-bedroom flat (though it took most of his paycheck to split rent with her), where they had all the privacy they could ever want and weekend mornings were spent in bed watching whatever reruns were on. It was no longer awkward when he walked in on her getting dressed. He was the only person who knew that Haruna Mase owned like a million hair ties and that she was particularly affectionate and clingy when it was that time of the month. But Nagisa had one question.

 _What does all that make us now?_ He got out soy sauce. _We've never gone on anything we agreed to call a 'date' and we only say 'I love you' when-_ His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of the door opening.

"Tadaima." It was Kayano.

"You're home early."

The internationally acclaimed, award winning actress made her grand appearance in the kitchen. "We had to disband. Everyone had places they needed to be. Hara had to babysit. Fuwa had some book signing thing. Maehara had to bounce because some guy was pursuing him with intent to harm. Something over a girl." Kayano laughed. Nagisa joined her. It was so characteristic of that guy.

"Ah." Nagisa placed the food on the table. His hand still felt warm from when she held it earlier that day. "I made dinner."

"Thank you." Kayano clapped her hands together. "Itadakimasu." She began devouring the raw egg over rice. "How was your first day of work?"

"Um... " He couldn't quite find a single word to encapsulate it. "It's a long story. I'll tell you later. I want to hear about the reunion first."

"It was great. Nothing but good news. I just hope I don't get in trouble for sneaking off of the set."

They ate in silence. _Are we lovers? Roommates who have sex and have an emotional attachment? Really, really close friends?_ Nagisa wanted to ask her.

"Akari-" He stopped. She froze. Oh right, he was only allowed to call her that in bed, he reminded himself. He decided to ask a different question. "I mean, Kayano. You didn't tell anyone about us? At the reunion, I mean."

"I told no one." Only their closest friends knew that they were living together, and Karma definitely suspected something more. "If it gets out that Haruna Mase is living with a guy, my career will be over." She fiddled with the pearl necklace he had given her as a White Day gift two weeks before- a nervous habit of hers, he noticed since moving in with her. "This is our little secret." She got up to do the dishes.

"Yes." He agreed. Soon they both went to bed. Nagisa fell asleep with the issue still on his mind.

* * *

"Good morning class!" The next morning, Nagisa once again went for the enthusiasm approach.

And once again it fell on deaf ears. The only response he got was twelve annoyed glares.

"Really? You try to be bright and chirpy today of all days, Shiota-sensei?" Hamada, the short and stocky one, called out from his seat in the back. As far away as he could get from his sensei.

Nagisa sat up straight. "Why? Did something happen?"

"You didn't hear." Kasegawa, the only girl in the class, replied flatly. It was more of a statement than a question. "The art studio." She cast a sympathetic glance towards Hamada.

Nagisa exhaled. He'd deal with this later. "Today's going to be a hands-on day. We're cleaning this room." He gestured to the cleaning supplies- mops, brooms, scrubbing brushes, and several bottles of that mysterious orange fluid that he used to clean the apartment and seemed to work like a charm. "Let's try to get this all done before lunch, okay?" He'd just ask the principal if the things that were broken could be replaced or fixed.

Much to his surprise, this plan went over well with his class. Every one of them arose from their seats and got right to work. Nagisa felt relieved. He had expected to fight them on this.

He overheard Kazama, the other student who intentionally sat as far back as possible, mutter to Kasegawa. "At least I don't have to sit in that stupid chair all damn morning." _So this one can't sit still_ , he took note. He got up to join his students. _Who should I get to know today..._ He settled on Hamada. The one who avoided him. The one who was so upset over the art studio.

Nagisa got on his hands and feet to scrub the floor next to Hamada. Hamada was clearly unnerved. Nagisa just smiled at him.

"So what happened in the art studio?"

Hamada seemed to contemplate getting up and leaving, but decided to talk. "It's a mess. We won't be able to use it for a while."

Nagisa dipped the brush in that mystery cleaning solution. "Shame. You like art?"

"Y-yes."

"Are you in the art club?"

"I was, but I got beef with the club president." Hamada sounded proud of that, as if it made him sound tough.

Nagisa paused, waiting for his pupil to extrapolate.

"The dude's a son of a bitch. So one day I kicked the shit out of him, then they told me to never come back again. So I go there after class, on the days that they don't meet." The misfit reluctantly decided to open up. Just in vain hope that it might make his sensei go away.

And Nagisa did indeed move away from him, but it was to dodge a metal ruler that was swung at him by none other than Kagato.

The cleanup finished and classes resumed as normal. Well, normal for an assassination classroom. "Class, I have one assignment for you tonight." Nagisa waited for the groans to die down. "Write about a conflict you had, and how it affected your relationships with other parties. How it affected your life afterwards. And how you resolved it. Lots of details, please!" He was looking forward to a certain student's answer.

"How long does it have to be?" Izumoto asked.

"As long as it has to be." The bluenette said with a slight satisfaction. _I've been waiting so long to say that..._

Nagisa packed his things. _I should try to catch the principal and ask him about our repair situation..._ He pondered as he left the room. _Maybe I'll check out the art studio fiasco as well..._ As soon as he shut the door, he was greeted with another new face. It was a kind-looking old man. Nagisa immediately got good vibes from him.

"You're the new intern, right?" The man bowed. "I came to meet you. I'm Jirou Kawaguchi. I teach Classical Japanese to Year 2."

"Nagisa Shiota." He bowed in return. "I teach every subject but P.E. to 3-5."

"Who's in your class?" Nagisa read him his attendance list.

"I've had a few of them. They're not the easiest bunch to deal with." Kawaguchi cringed a bit. His white hair trembled.

"That's a way to put it." Nagisa chuckled. "Any advice?"

"Tsukuda won't say if he needs help, so when he does poorly you'll have to approach him. When Kasegawa threatens to hit you or something, just let it roll off your back. She's all bark and no bite."

"Thanks." Nagisa was thrilled someone was showing him the ropes. "I was going to go speak to the principal."

"He's not in today."

"Oh. I'll have to put that on my to do list." Another pause. "Did you hear about the art studio?" He knew it was unprofessional to ask, but he just had to know.

"Heard about it? I'm headed over see it!" his companion laughed. "They opened up the room again so that administrators can take a look."

They walked across the building, chatting about miscellaneous things. When they arrived at the art studio, a crowd of obvious teachers and administrators had gathered inside the door.

Well, something certainly did go down in here. Easels were broken and strewn across the floor, like clothes on the bedroom floor many nights. All colors of the rainbow were represented in the paint splatters on every surface. The teacher's desk had an indentation the shape of someone's fist. A brown stain lay on the floor beside it. It reeked of blood.

The crowd was abuzz with noise.

"I think it was a student. Probably one of those 3-5 losers."

"No, I heard someone from our rival school broke in. The art show's coming up after all. They must have wanted to ruin our paintings."

"Then where did the blood come from?"

"The art teacher's not here either..." Kawaguchi mused. "I'll introduce you to everyone later."

Everyone seemed to ignore Nagisa. He wasn't too shocked about that. He's too unassuming to distract from something this juicy. He tried to get closer. He was grabbed by yet another colleague.

"You're the new guy?" The new figure was tall and handsome. "Shintaro Nakagawa. I teach English to Year 3. Hey everyone," He switched his tone to now address the whole room. "Here's our new guy!"

Their stares made Nagisa feel one foot tall. It was clear no one took him seriously. "Hello, my name is Nagisa Shiota, and I teach class 3-5."

Dead silence. Until a guy in the back spoke up. "So administration's hazing you, huh!"

"Lay off the guy. I'm sure he gets enough from his students." Nakagawa defended. "Anyway, I think we should leave. Y'know, so this mess can be cleaned up." His voice was smooth. Persuasive. And he did indeed convince everyone to leave.

 _This guy's putting on airs,_ Nagisa immediately sensed. _I don't trust him. And I don't know what's going on here._

 _Now I have to look out even when class isn't in session._


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again fine people. Happy fourth of July to my fellow 'Muricans, and happy belated Canada Day to my friends up north (since I forgot to mention it last chapter). For now, expect an update every 2-3 days, but can only keep that up 'til late August because then I go back to school. Responses to reviews:**

 **no name: My intention was for a third-person limted narrator, and the sentences in italics are Nagisa's thoughts and feelings. I tried to make that more clear in this chapter, please tell me if it's still confusing.**

 **iamn00bish and NTYTekHTTYDFan: Thank you, I am definitely enjoying writing this. Not much Nagikae in this chapter but I promise oodles upon oodles of it in the next few.**

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Nagisa's first week at Paradise High eventually came to an end. His students must have realized that "assassinating" him would require more complex attempts, because their attempts abruptly stopped, and they always seemed to be whispering to each other in small groups, as if discussing some sort of covert operation. That or they were really thoughtful about last night's homework. Well, either was a good development.

Nagisa had also met many more of his colleagues. Turns out they weren't as bad as he initially thought. Fuyuki Shibata, the drama teacher, was quiet and soft spoken, the math teachers all had a great sense of humor, and the vice principal was stern but seemed to care a lot for the students. Nagisa had gotten a hold of the principal and put in a request for funds to fix the room. He had not heard back yet.

It was Friday evening, and the twenty-two year old was grading the essays he assigned earlier in the week. Hamada did indeed write about his 'beef' with the art club president, and how it made him an outcast. Unfortunately, he ignored the 'resolving' part. _Add 'problem solving' to my list of lessons to teach..._ He thought. The other essays were not dissimilar. Talk of kid stuff, like punching their brother for taking their favorite toy and mommy put them both in time out. They must have had _some_ sort of major conflict in their 17 year-old lives. Why else would they be in the special placement class? This was where the school dumped its "problem children". Nagisa was all too familiar with that.

 _I don't know what I expected,_ Nagisa rubbed his temples. _Of course they aren't ready to open up to me. I'm new to them, and they don't respect authority to begin with. I have to try harder._ Nagisa felt like a fool.

Nagisa sipped his oolong tea. He cast a glance at Kayano, who was leaning on the couch reading a letter from a fan. Or at least she was. Seeing Nagisa upset, she moved towards him and started rubbing his back. He felt at peace. "I'll be okay," She assured him. "I remember the first time I disappointed someone..."

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April was now upon them. It was warming up outside, and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. The seasonal birds had returned but the school's occupants had not yet gotten used to waking up at six a.m. The extra daylight hours the previous month had left everyone restless; all obligations had been fulfilled yet there was still time to be filled. Before he started working, Nagisa used to fill his time by starting new lesson plans sitting outside in the park, smiling when families with children and dogs would walk by, but that was now a thing of the past. There was no time left for that. Daylight would now be spent indoors, in off-white hallways and a room that was falling apart from the inside out.

School began again after a weekend spent going over lesson plans. Nagisa again took up the task of getting to know his students, and this again was a Herculean effort. They were still resistant to his attempts to teach them, as if they thought he was giving them misinformation to cause their downfall. Nagisa frowned in homeroom when Tsukuda refused the help he offered to go over the history test he failed. The blond didn't even hesitate in saying no. Nagisa had to make the tutoring session mandatory to get him to even consider coming. But even among these, one student stood out.

Kotori Kasegawa. She took the Chemistry exam Wednesday and earned a grade of a thirty. Out of one hundred. Nagisa stood in front of her desk on a break between classes.

He took caution, having heard about her infamously terrible temper and foul mouth. "I recommend you stay after today. To discuss your progress in science." He said with the friendliest smile he could muster.

Nagisa had tried to be discreet about it, but that was not going well. Kasegawa shot up out of her desk.

"I-I'm not coming!" Her meltdown caused the whole class to turn around and see the catastrophe unfolding.

"This is for your grade, Kasegawa. Everyone has had tutoring they've been asked to come to-"

"And I know none of them have showed!" Angry tears burst from her eyes. Nagisa knew he had stepped on a landmine, but he had to try to help her.

"That's their problem, this is yours."

"This is such fucking bullshit! I'll punch you if you bring it up again!"

Nagisa suddenly got a flashback to something Karma said to Terasaka about hating Koro-sensei years ago. The "assassin" switch was now on. He smirked.

"You're allowed to do that here."

She stared at him. It was probably only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity to Class 3-5 as they awkwardly watched this meltdown.

Kasegawa finally had enough and stormed out of the room, but not before taking her reaching into her desk to grab her phone and a cloth-looking pouch- probably erasers or gum or something. She threw Nagisa one final spiteful look and slammed the door on her way out. Nagisa was dumbfounded. None of the class reacted that badly to being told they had extra classwork. At most they got slightly defensive.

Once again the class shocked Nagisa with their reaction.

"Don't worry about Kotori, she does this to everyone." Kagato actually even dared to look at his sensei as he said it.

"Yeah. She'll calm down and be back tomorrow, normal as ever." Hamada, who seemed to be in her company a lot, concurred.

"... So, can I have her seat for today?" Asked Aida, as her desk was farther towards the back of the room.

Kasegawa indeed did not show up for the rest of the day. And she indeed did come back the next day, seemingly back to her normal self, or what passed for normal in this place. She sat at her desk all the next day, twirling her hair and staring out the window, and most of all refusing to make eye contact with Nagisa. Still not paying attention in class. Nagisa had to do something for her. And the idea of exactly what came to him shortly before lunchtime.

He tried again at lunch, pulling her outside the room. "Kasegawa?"

She stared at the floor. "...Yes? Are you going to-"

"I'm going to help you. I'm your teacher, after all."

She refused to meet his eyes. "And how to you plan on doing that? I've been at this school two years and they put me here for a reason. Because no one has-"

Nagisa handed her a pen. "I see you didn't bring one today. Anyway, think of taking these tests as an... Assassination." Nagisa thought back to what he told Sakura years ago.

"..." She began to have that get-me-out-of-here look.

"You go in with an arsenal of weapons, wait for the right moment, then make your kill." She seemed to be following the metaphor. "But just like how an assassin can't make his kill without preparation, you can't pass a test without being prepared either. And you can be prepared by studying ahead of time. Okay?"

There was still no response from the student. Nagisa went on "I'm going to give you this study guide for the next exam. I'm going to recommend you study a bit every night-"

She grabbed the booklet and began to storm into the classroom, but stopped in the doorway for a minute. "Asshole."

 _You think I can't handle a bit of verbal abuse?_ Nagisa thought with derision. _You haven't met my mother._

Kasegawa turned around to plunge the pen into her teacher, only for the petite blue-haired man to catch her arm, stopping the instrument a mere four inches from his face.

"... Good. You're taking this seriously." Nagisa was pleased.


	4. Chapter 4

**Warning: This chapter gets a little explicit towards the middle. Just a little bit.**

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Class for that day carried on. Nagisa overheard his students' gossip all afternoon.

"-So I was pounding on the door, I heard Minnaoka's voice in there"

"-I finally woke up, three hours later, in Osaka, with a ring pop on each finger, apparently I said I wanted bling?-"

"I swear that thing had to be the size of a febreze bottle-"

But one conversation stood out, taking place between Science and English.

"If only it were Nakagawa-sensei who taught us English, rather than that pipsqueak." Aida scrunched up his face.

"I fucking hate teachers, but that guy just commanded respect." Tsukuda added.

"Yeah, he asked me to come see that school play after the break, I was almost convinced-" Shisaki began.

"Wait, I heard that the play was rescheduled to Oct-" One of the other two, it wasn't clear who, started to respond, but they were all interrupted.

Nagisa snuck up behind the trio. "What's this I hear about sensei?" All three teenagers looked like they could've died of embarrassment.

Nagisa dismissed class for the day, and decided not to give them cleaning duty. As if on cue, when the last student shut the door, every single book from the very top of the shelf fell off. Sweatdrop. He couldn't even reach those books anyway, they were basically decorative. But they still had to go in their place. He'd need a step ladder to put them back. He began the walk towards the storage room, noticing that the building was almost completely devoid of people, even just five minutes after the last bell.

When he arrived at his destination, he knew he'd have to wait. He heard someone- no, two people- in there.

"It looks too suspicious! We've never had a problem with these deadlines before!"

"I-I just thought that would give us more time!"

"Well we'll just have to do without 'more time'!"

They sounded familiar. They weren't loud, but the first one was dripping with vitriol. I should just go home, Nagisa thought as he approached the door. _Ignore this, and get the damn thing tomorrow,_ he told himself as he noticed the door was slightly ajar. _It's Friday. Go home and cook a nice meal, draw a warm bath..._ The petite bluenette leaned up next to the door and pressed his ear to it. _Kayano will be waiting for me, we'll watch a movie, the sheets on the bed were just washed, perfect for cuddling..._ Nagisa knew he shouldn't eavesdrop (he'd done enough of that for today), but curiosity got the better of him.

"And if you ever risk blowing our cover again, well I have friends in high places. Want one of them to drop by your house? Maybe with a tire iron?"

"N-no."

Nagisa couldn't get a good look. But it didn't matter because he was struck with a facefull of door, and of one of the culprits. Blue eyes met green, but only for a moment.

"Tch!" The man blurted.

Shintaro Nakagawa. The English teacher who seemed so suave, who could win over any student with a single glance. So Nagisa's suspicions that he was hiding something were correct.

Nakagawa's anger then turned to panic. He shot Nagisa a pleading look, as if to silently beg him to take his side in whatever embroilment this even was. Nagisa was unimpressed.

The second party then stormed out of the room, it was now obvious that he had thrown Nakagawa. Nagisa recognized that small frame, the way he carried himself.. It was Fuyuki Shibata, the drama teacher. He always seemed so... nondescript. So simple. Who knew that he was holding all that in?

Shibata gave Nakagawa one final angry glare and snort, slammed the door, and was on his way. If he noticed Nagisa, He made no indication of it. This left Nagisa and Nakagawa, rather awkwardly, the only occupants of the hallway.

The other educator fumbled with his hands. All that charm he had was now gone. "Um... well, how was your day? How have your first few weeks been? Thank goodness it's Friday, am I right? The cherry blossoms look so nice in the courtyard." He drabbled in English. Upon realizing that 'the new guy' wasn't falling for it, he checked his nonexistent watch (It's 2023, no one has those), and darted away.

Unfortunately, the door was locked on the inside. Dammit. The step ladder will have to wait til Monday.

Nagisa felt the urge to look at his phone, and when he did he saw a single ominous text from Kayano, received hours ago:

 **Come home right after class.**

Dammit, he missed that.

* * *

When Nagisa got home, Kayano was sprawled out on the couch, wearing his boxers and sweatshirt, eating peanut butter straight from the jar. "Nagisa!" She practically shot up and tackled him. "How was your day?"

"This is the end of my second week here and problems have already popped up."

"Oh? What happened?"

"I'll go second, your text seemed urgent."

"Doesn't seem like it was much better than yours. The director's being a dick. We're under the gun to finish filming this season. 'Haruna-sama, get in and out of that dressing room!' 'Camera guy, what do you think you're doing at that angle?' 'Where the hell is the stunt double?'" Kayano rolled her eyes. "Plus, security had to stop a crazed fan from breaking into the set. I don't know how he thought that would work out for him." Kayano twirled around. "He then ran. We called the cops, and they found him... At Paradise High."

The adorable student-teacher gulped. Hence why he was rushed home. "Shit. How long has this been happening?"

"The director? Just started this week. But it was awful today. The crazy fans have happened in the past, but I haven't had one in years... til this guy." She tapped her fingers against the wall with a theatrical sigh.

"On a lighter note, I made dinner."

The couple sat in the kitchen eating a nice chicken curry with carrots, potatoes, onions, and rice. Nagisa did the dishes, while explaining to Kayano his predicament.

"Remember that Nakagawa guy I mentioned? The English teacher?"

"The one you thought seemed a bit sketchy? Yeah, I remember."

"Well, I went to the storage room to pick up something I need for Monday, and he was there with Shibata, the drama teacher, and-" Nagisa put the spoon down in the dishwater for a second while trying to come up with words to summarize what he had witnessed. "Shibata threw him out the door, was going on about 'blowing their cover'. This coupled with the art room being vandalized on the day that both the art teacher and the principal conveniently aren't there... Something is going on at this school." He put the dishes in the drying rack and wiped his hands. "I don't know yet what it is, but I just want my students away from it... You know, I've described them to you, if they find out they'll totally go seeking trouble-" Kayano wrapped her arms around his waist.

"The worst part is those two know I know. I was behind the door, and they swung it open... Nakagawa even tried to speak to me." He covered her hands with his."And this guy who tried to see you at work... does he fit into all this!?" He began to twitch. "At least they don't know where we live."

"Nagisa..." She began, kissing his shoulder. "I'm worried for the both of us too. But we need to remember we're highly trained assassins." She let out a long sigh. "We killed a super-creature that threatened the earth with destruction, one that all the world's armies with the most advanced technology couldn't take down." He felt her breath warm against his back.

"... You're right." He turned around to face her. The air between them was tense again. It reminded him of that night. He kissed her, and she leaned into it and reciprocated fully. He could feel her smiling, and Nagisa thought it the most beautiful moment he ever experienced. When they broke Kayano kept eye contact.

"Love me tonight." She whispered.

"Of course."

* * *

"I love you Akari." he whispered as she ran her fingers through his hair.

Now their hands were intertwined, fingers interlocking, as if to form a barricade no one else could enter. He kissed her again and again, all over her body.

"I love you, Nagisa." She sobbed. And this moment was beautiful too.

* * *

The next evening, Nagisa found himself at a bar, accompanied by Kawaguchi. Nagisa had been learning a lot about the old man tonight. He had been teaching since long before Nagisa was born. He was from northern Hokkaido and moved here for college. And he remembered the news about Koro-sensei as if it all happened yesterday, and still didn't know what to make of it. Over a lot of alcohol, Nagisa had mentioned hearing a fight in the storage room, though he did not get specific about who it was or what it was about.

"Yeah... That sounds about right for that storage room." Kawaguchi agreed before downing a glass of scotch (he could also drink everyone under the table, Nagisa had learned). "... Interesting things have happened in that room. My first year teaching I found a kid's stash of drugs hidden under the floorboards. Every year at least one fight breaks out in there. Clandestine meetings between lovers." He put on his glasses to look at the selection of beers available. "Because it's not usually occupied, people think they have privacy."

Nagisa stared his empty glass, contemplating ordering another drink. "Kawaguchi, can you be honest with me for a minute?"

"Yes, why?"

"My..." He tried to find a word to describe Kayano. "girlfriend said some guy who likes breaking and entering was found by the police on campus. Does that describe anyone here?"

Kawaguchi had a puzzled look. "I've been working here for 40 years and I don't think anyone here would do that. Maybe someone from outside the school? But I didn't hear about any arrests on campus yesterday... I'm always out of the loop." He muttered.

Nagisa shifted his attention to the floor. _I'm out of the loop too. Meaning I'm going to have to investigate some more..._

* * *

 **So... What did you think of that? Also, I don't plan on this particular subplot coming up again for a few chapters. Just don't forget this, okay?  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello again. Sorry this chapter took a little longer than usual, I had to help plan a party for my Grandpa's 80th, then I had some technical difficulties. Also, expect background Karmanami in coming chapters.**

* * *

Finally, a handwritten letter from the principal was in Nagisa mailbox on Monday morning. It read simply:

 _Dear Nagisa Shiota,_

 _Your request has been received and carefully considered. While we at Paradise High do believe a positive and clean environment fosters satisfactory progress in education and growth, 3-5 is after all the special placement class. The board has come to the conclusion that, if 3-5 desires that a part of the school's valuable budget be spent to beautify their place of dwelling, 3-5 must prove themselves worthy of it by all placing in the top 50 in Year 3 in the first trimester midterms in May._

 _Thank you in advance for your patience and time,_

 _Principal Gakuto Akino_

Sigh. To be told off in so many words. Now Nagisa had to deliver this news to his class. He marched on there.

"Class," He announced after taking attendance. All present and on time, for once. "We've been cut a... deal, of sorts."

No one seemed too impressed. "By who?" Izumoto's bored voice rang out from the back.

"By _whom_ ," Nagisa corrected. "And it's by the school itself."

He swatted a paper airplane away from him. "Kagato, lame! I should assign extra homework just for the lack of effort!" He threatened, half jokingly. Everyone dropped what they were doing to glare daggers at the perpetrator.

"Now that I have your attention, boys and girl, I pick this time to tell you of the letter I received this morning." The vertically challenged assassin teacher paced between the desks. "You all want this room to be repaired, right? Functioning blinds, air conditioning, this hole that Aida punched in the wall covered up..."

"Hey!"

Some faces reflected interest in this possibility, some seemed flippant towards it. _I guess I'll just have to work on the ones who care_ , Nagisa told himself.

"So I was told by the administration, we get the funds to fix this room... _If_ we can all place in the top 50 in the grade in the first trimester midterms."

One could have heard a pin drop in that room.

"Wait WHAT?" About two thirds of the class simultaneously interjected.

"I've never even gotten in the top 90..." Banno muttered.

"...You know there's only 100 students in our grade, right?" Shisaki snarked in response to his friend.

"Yes... Top 50." Nagisa had to suppress a facepalm. Why did the school expect this of them, so soon? Wait, this reminded him of a certain time, in a certain classroom...

 _What did Koro-sensei tell us..._

Nagisa clapped his hands together. "For every student that places in the top 50, I will stand completely still for 15 seconds. You may do what you want to me."

Once again, radio silence. But now they were hard to read. Hamada stared out the window with a pensive look. Kazama dug his fingernails into his palm. Tsukuda just stared off into space.

Nagisa stopped pacing, figuring it might be making his students nervous.

"The exams are May 26th. It is now April 10th. So we have forty-six days. I expect you to start studying now. And one more thing."

Everyone stared.

"I appreciate that some of you are putting more thought into your assassination attempts, but I know what you're planning when you tell me that there's a cat stuck in the storage room for the fourth time this week."

* * *

A few days later, Karma appeared at their doorstep. It was apparently storytime.

"Kanzaki got banned from our favorite bar." He said breathlessly, taking his shoes off.

"Wait why?" Kayano ducked out of the kitchen with the tea.

"Some guy grabbed her ass. She told him to knock it off. He didn't, and ... Well, she smacked him so hard the sound alone made everyone in the damn place stop and stare."

Nagisa and Kayano both smiled to themselves. Good to see she still didn't take anyone's shit.

"The shock of it just made him fall over. You should have seen the look on the guy's face, like he never expected that she would react that way. Anyways, turns out the guy's the brother of the guy who owns the place. We were personally escorted out. Sugino and I were there to witness it all in glorious real-time."

"I'm not going back there after that." Nagisa grabbed his cup of tea.

"I think we can all agree on that. Hayami was bartending that night and Chiba was the bouncer. They quit the moment it happened." Karma seemed pleased with that. "I hope the owner is happy with his decision, because he lost a lot of patrons that night."

Karma was chatty tonight. He went on about how strict and boring the other bureaucrats were at work (and how wild they were at parties), while he asked Nagisa an abundance of questions about his first few weeks ("Did they think you were a student at first?"). Nagisa answered them to the best of his ability at the moment ("Actually, yes"). And Karma soon knew of whatever it was that was going on involving the art room and those sketchy teachers.

"Oh, I just got off the phone with Nakamura before I got here." Karma added.

"How's she?" Now that her semester in London was finished, she was immigrating to America.

"She got a temporary job at a daycare while the immigration papers are going through. She calls her English degree her 'buttwiping degree'. But she seems to love it there."

Nagisa and Kayano chuckled. "That is definitely something she'd say." Kayano put down a package of rice crackers on the table.

"It gets better. Guess who she met at the airport?"

"The Emperor of Japan?"

"No... _Asano_."

Nagisa and Kayano nearly spat out their tea.

"Yep. Just standing there in all his glory, at the baggage claim. She couldn't help but snatch his hat, hide, and follow him around until he noticed it was gone." Karma giggled. He was joined by his old friends.

"Ah, I would still do worse... Anyways, they had a chat, turns out he's immigrating there too. Some place he wants to work at." The tall, handsome red-haired man finished. "California. I'll be keeping tabs on the both of them."

"I see none of us ever changed." Nagisa took a sip of his tea.

"Especially not you. You still look like you're in junior high."

"Shut up."

Soon, Kayano got up to use the bathroom. Karma took the opportunity to elbow his old friend.

"So, what's going on with the two of you?"

Nagisa flushed red. "Um, well..."

"You _live_ with her. I think you're more than friends by now-"

"You think correctly." Nagisa cut him off. He already knows that much.

Karma smiled. "Just let me be the best man, okay?"

"Definitely. What about you and Okuda, hmm? Any developments there?"

Karma put down his cup. "I wish. But alas, she's dating this guy she has a couple classes with. I've met him, he seems nice enough. Oh, and I have a story about that..."

* * *

Once again, it was Friday night. Nagisa's third week teaching at Paradise High had come to an end. Nagisa was on the couch with an open notebook, musing over ways to help his students study for the upcoming midterms, while Kayano was on the other end, reading a review of the latest episode of her drama.

 _It's been a week since I gave them this challenge, I still have yet to see any of my students at the after school study sessions I hold..._ Nagisa chewed his fingernail. _Am I not motivating them enough? But I-_

There was a knock at the door. Nagisa arose to answer it. This was strange, they weren't expecting any visitors tonight. Now the doorbell rung, the visitor having found it.

An older man stood at the door. Black hair going gray, brown eyes, this man had a refined air about him. Like he'd been everywhere and seen everything. But he seemed puzzled seeing Nagisa. "Hello?" He bowed. "Satoshi Yukimura."

 _Yukimura..._

Kayano shot up from her seat, dropping everything that was in her lap. Nagisa hadn't seen her wear that face since junior high. It was like when they were about to explode that giant pudding, or when they heard about Koro-sensei's past...

" _D-Daddy!?_ "


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's chapter 6. A concern of mine at the moment is the possibility that I'm over saturating the story with too many elements/characters at once. Please tell me if my concern is valid. I do plan on things slowing down a bit after chapter 7 though.**

 **In response to Nekoni: Glad you enjoyed it, I worked hard on that chapter. What exactly do you mean by "other couple"? And there'll be background Karmanami, Chibahaya, and Irina x Karasuma. The rest of former E Class I ship with OCs who will probably be mentioned in later chapters. As of now I don't plan on there being any romance between the students. That might change though.**

 **To everyone: Thanks for all your positive reviews!**

* * *

Kayano bolted to the door and hugged the old man.

Tears were flowing from her brown eyes. "Daddy! Daddy!"

Mr. Yukimura patted his daughter's head. "My baby. Daddy's home." Nagisa could have swore he saw him cry as well.

The three sat in the living room. Father, daughter, and son-in-law(ish). Mr. Yukimura had brought a dish of Kayano's favorite pudding, which she devoured gratefully, stopping only to use her phone briefly.

Nagisa's phone dinged. He checked it, it was a text from Kayano.

 **If daddy asks, you're just a friend and you don't live here.**

He texted back.

 **Understood.**

It was Kayano who spoke first. "Now that we've done our emotional greetings..." She put the empty bowl on the coffee table. The spoon fell into it with a _clang_. Kayano's expression changed again. Nagisa knew what it signified.

"Daddy, where have you been the past eight fucking years!?"

Her father did not answer, he just stared.

"Til I graduated high school. No calls, no texts, you just put money in my bank account and payed my rent. You weren't _here_. Why haven't I seen you since nee-san's funeral!?"

There was more silence.

"Akari... Please try to understand. After Aguri died and the family business failed, I had to find some way to-"

"Some way to _what_!?"

"I had to save Yukimura Pharmaceuticals. If something happened to your career, you should have something to fall back on, and you never went to college..."

"And...?"

"I got involved with some people. Loan sharks. If I contacted you, they'd be able to trace it. They were brutal, they would have come after you. They were threatening to do horrible things to me already, I can't imagine... If I'd have lost you... After your mother and your sister..." He was once again on the verge of tears.

Kayano brought her hands up to cover her face. It was clear she too was crying again.

"But the company's back on its feet. I payed off those guys. So we're free to see each other as much as we can."

It was obvious to both men that Kayano was conflicted. The tears stopped for a minute.

"I love you, Dad." She wiped her eyes. Nagisa got up to hug her.

"I love you too. You're my little girl." Mr. Yukimura's tears ceased now too.

Mr. Yukimura turned to his daughter's sort-of boyfriend.

"Forgive me. I didn't even acknowledge you there. And you are?"

"My name is Nagisa Shiota. I'm a friend of Ka- Akari's."

There was still an air of awkwardness between them. Like he knew that there was something more going on here. He decided to drop it for now.

He coughed. "Well, it's still early, how about we all go out to dinner? I'll treat."

* * *

Later that night, while getting ready for bed, Kayano called out to Nagisa from across the room.

"Nagisa?"

He knew that tone. "Yes?"

"Did I ever tell you about my family?"

"Just about Aguri."

"I suppose now is the time." She slunk into bed, sounding nostalgic. "We were loaded. Capital L loaded. Dad was a bigwig director of a pharmaceutical company. You've taken their antihistamines, painkillers, hell they make the birth control pills we use." She rested her head on his chest.

"Mom died when I was twelve. Hence why I went on that long hiatus. Not too long after the family business went under, Nee-san died, and well you know the rest."

Nagisa nodded.

"Honestly, I'm still kind of mad at my Dad for leaving me alone for years. But I care about him, and I want him in my life again. Families are... nuanced like that."

"I know that." The bluenette responded. He thought of his own dysfunctional family.

"In... 5, 10, however many years, we'll do better..." He whispered as they fell asleep.

* * *

And with that, school began again on Monday.

Nagisa rapped his fingers against the desk.

April 17. Thirty-nine days til midterms, he wrote on the board.

His students shuffled in gradually. Kasegawa was loudly chatting to Hamada about whatever it was she did this weekend (It involved a banana peel and a can of pepper spray), Shisaki and Banno commiserating about how hard the science homework was (Nagisa was pleased- they were thinking about it and putting effort), and Izumoto trying to make a paper crane (it was coming out quite well, actually).

Nagisa cleared his throat. "None of you have appeared at my after-school study sessions." Awkward silence hung over them. "So I'm gonna go right ahead and make them mandatory." He braced himself for the inevitable booing. But it didn't happen. Instead each of his students wore a smug, satisfied look on their faces.

"W-what?" Nagisa was genuinely surprised. "Why aren't you-"

"Teach, I think I speak for everyone when I say that we knew you were gonna do that." Shisaki piped up.

"Ah," Nagisa was satisfied. _Studying their assassination target. Good_ , he thought. "I have noticed the class average has been rising on homework, and that's because all of you have started doing the homework. This is great. How about we make the class average for test grades rise as well?" They were happy to do homework but averse to studying. Nagisa didn't get it, but it was a conundrum he would figure out.

"Whose study session it is for the day will depend on who has cleaning duty." Nagisa looked at the chart he had of that information. Today was Izumoto. A face he had seen many times before. And... Toshima.

"Izumoto and Toshima, today is your day."

After school, the pair swept and scrubbed, then obediently sat down when their sensei motioned them too. He decided to focus on each's worst subjects. For Izumoto it was English and Japanese. For a guy proclaimed as a space cadet, even by his own friends, he was strangely proficient in math. Compared to the scores Nagisa saw from last year's records, he had a slight improvement in these three weeks, but Nagisa told him that he could improve even more if he came up with some mnemonic devices to remember rules. Maybe tried relating it to something he liked. With a grin and another paper crane, he was on his merry way.

Toshima was a bit harder to address. He was something of an anomaly in this class. Quiet, polite, had yet to make an assassination attempt on Nagisa, he definitely did not fit the delinquent image that permeated this class. His grades were about average for his year, and it was never a struggle to get him to do his homework. Nagisa had once his permanent record in front of him, ready to go through it with a fine-toothed comb, because he had no idea of any reason why he should be in 3-5 (he decided against looking at that file, it just felt wrong). But he was a young soul in Nagisa's care, so Nagisa resolved to do what he could for him.

The blue-haired teacher sat down next to him, a history textbook open in front of him. Toshima's worst subject was history, and the subject of the last history exam was the French Revolution, so he decided to focus on that. "Remember, nothing in history happens in a vacuum." Toshima looked at him, puzzled. "Things don't just happen, there's ..."

A lightbulb went off in Nagisa's head for the millionth time since he started teaching. Toshima liked books, and always seemed to be carrying one around with him. And Nagisa had just told Izumoto to connect school subjects to things he liked, so Nagisa knew where to take this.

"Every event has a prologue and an epilogue. Just like a book. Prologues give context to the story, and epilogues show how the story affected its characters and setting in the future. If the French Revolution was a novel, the prologue might focus on a poor peasant family. Show how paying the taxes that they couldn't afford meant they had to make other sacrifices. The kids are starving because there's no bread to eat, they lose the family farm... Remember why the Bastille was stormed?"

"Because the queen told them to eat cake?" Toshima said confidently.

Nagisa smirked. "Actually, she never said that." His student frowned. "And the epilogue would be?"

"T-the Reign of Terror."

"That is correct." Toshima now smiled brightly. Nagisa noticed a long, jagged scar across his hand.

 _Maybe he'll open up to me_ , Nagisa thought. He was one of the more approachable ones.

"If you don't mind telling, why are you in 3-5?"

Toshima covered the scar with his other hand and looked away, refusing to make eye contact (a growing theme in this class). "I got in a fight."

"With whom? And when?"

"Someone who happens to be in this class. Last year." Was all he muttered.

"Sorry to hear that. If it helps, think of your relationships with others as like a novel as well. There's a clear beginning, and there may be some conflict along the way, but it needs to be resolved before the end." Toshima just sat there staring his book. Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Hmm.

"It was Kazama." The student confessed.

"Do you want me to talk to him..?" Nagisa offered.

"Please don't." And with that, Toshima packed his bag and took off.

 _Prying has nearly gotten me into trouble before_ , Nagisa pondered as he stared at the rotten wood on the floor. _But I'm their teacher, so it's my responsibility to see that they get along._

* * *

 **Leave your thoughts in the reviews, because I had a hard time writing this chapter, especially the scene with Kayano's dad. PMG, out.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for another slightly late chappy. Sometimes it takes a long time for things to come out the way you want them to...**

 **In response to Pea Brain Writer: Thank you for the very thoughtful review. My intention was that Nagisa would have to "fight alone" initially, and gradually win over the trust of his students (that will start to happen very soon). Thank you for the suggestion about having 2-3 students with more screentime (pagetime?) and more trust in Nagisa than the others. My plan was to try to even split time between all twelve students, but that probably isn't practical. So I'll likely push a few to the frontlines.**

 **All that being said, this will be the last chapter that introduces a dramatic major plot point for a long time. The next few chaps will be pretty relaxed. As always, please review!**

* * *

Over the next few days, Nagisa keenly observed the classroom. He was monitoring for the interactions between Kazama and Toshima. But there seemed to be none. Not even awkward eye contact or snide remarks. They just ignored each other's existence.

By Wednesday, he decided he needed to halt his little study plan to figure out what was going on with them. He assigned them both cleaning duty. Toshima had visibly cringed. Kazama chewed his pencil.

It was at the beginning of lunch that Nagisa finally saw the interaction he was looking for. Both headed towards the door to use the bathroom, and froze when realizing that they were side by side. Toshima shifted his gaze to the floor, while Kazama pushed on ahead, shoulder-checking him. Toshima stood for a minute, then walked out the door and turned in the opposite direction, presumably to go to the first or third floor bathroom.

Kasegawa must have noticed that Nagisa was staring at them, because she spoke up. "You didn't hear what happened between them?"

Nagisa hesitated. In the end, he decided that intra-classroom quarrels were indeed his business. "No."

"Well, they were friends. Once upon a time. Then Shibata-sensei's fourth period drama class happened, last year." Kasegawa was once again playing with that cloth pouch, this time it was on her desk. "They were both in that class, and had to rehearse a scene together." She pulled at the drawstrings of the pouch. "I remember it like it was yesterday, because I was there to witness it all. It was close to the opening night of the school play, so Shibata-sensei was too busy with last minute stuff to pay attention."

Something clicked. "Was Nakagawa there?" Nagisa asked. It was just a suspicion, but he had to know.

"Yes, why?"

"... No reason."

"So, Toshima disappeared to go find them. He had a question or something about the script. He came back not five minutes later and just slapped him. Was yelling about something, I really couldn't make it out." She was now twirling the bag around her fingers. "It turned into a brawl. Punching, kicking, screaming, all while those two senseis were in the back office."

"And you all just let it go on?" Nagisa was a bit shocked. E Class would never allow their classmates to do this.

"Fuck yeah we did. Quality entertainment right there. Anyway, someone who shall remain nameless wanted to spoil our fun, so they went looking for Shibata-sensei and Nakagawa-sensei. The teachers were horrified and demanded everyone stop them. Toshima doesn't look it, but he's a powerhouse. It took four guys to hold him back." Kasegawa laughed.

"You're a born storyteller." The blue-haired girly man replied.

"Th-thank you, Shiota-sensei." Kasegawa averted her gaze, like she genuinely wasn't used to getting praise. Her grades had significantly improved on the latest Chemistry test, so Nagisa hoped that she was becoming comfortable with him because she attributed her academic improvement to him. Maybe just wishful thinking.

The door opened. It was, of course, Kazama. He plopped down next to Kasegawa and began chatting about their plans for the upcoming Golden Week break. Toshima soon followed in, cast an anxious glare at his frenemy, and sat with Shisaki and Banno. Class soon began once more.

The day was now over, and the issue of resolving this conflict was now imminent. It had been in the back of Nagisa's head all day. He had made a mental note that Shibata and Nakagawa were somehow involved, but he still had no clue exactly what the boys were fighting over.

They intentionally stayed on opposite sides of the room. Nagisa got their attention before they were even done. Before figuring out how to resolve this conflict, he had to get to the bottom of it.

"You two are classmates," He began, dropping his rulers, calculators, and various other equipment in drawers. "But you don't even acknowledge each other's existence. And yet, a little bird told me you've had significant interactions before. Specifically in Shibata's drama class, last year." He closed the drawers and locked them (of course there were locks on everything in this school).

"Damn you, Kotori." Kazama muttered under his breath.

Toshima exhaled. He looked like he knew that this would happen.

Nagisa motioned them to sit down, but only Toshima did so.

"... Alright Kazama, I know you're holding a compass behind your back and you plan on shanking me with it. Put it down. I told you no assassination attempts during study sessions." His student scowled and put it on top of his teacher's desk.

"Now, what was this all about?"

"He snitched." Toshima was the first to speak.

"I did not!" His classmate defended himself.

"We _were_ friends," Toshima started, while Nagisa positioned himself between the two, so as to block them from attacking one another. "I told him a secret about my family... And he told Shibata-sensei."

"I didn't tell that prick! I don't trust him and never did!"

"Then how did he know? I just went in that damn storage room and he was all like 'Sorry about your mom, but don't let it-'"

"I don't know! Who else did you tell?"

Nagisa clapped his hands to get his pupils' attention. They froze.

"So, Toshima, you're convinced that Kazama betrayed your confidence and told Shibata about your mom?"

The otherwise polite boy was pouty. "Yeah, and who knows who else."

"How do you know it was him?"

"The only other people at the school who know are the administration, and they swore not to tell anyone. I don't think any of them have even met Shibata-sensei, he never leaves that theatre."

The assassin-turned-teacher walked toward the board and picked up a piece of chalk. "Now let's do some brainstorming. So maybe he did tell. That's a possibility." He drew a bunch of circles on the board, writing 'Kazama told' in one of them. "But maybe he didn't. What are some other possibilities?"

Kazama's hand shot right up. "Maybe his family or a family friend told someone in the school and it got around?"

"Could be." Nagisa wrote that in another circle. "I want the next answer to come from you, Toshima. What are some other ways that Shibata might be privy to knowing about your family issues?"

"... Maybe someone in the office is a snitch after all. Or maybe they told someone who told Shibata-sensei? I don't fucking know."

"... I'm going to install a swear jar in this classroom." The short bluenette muttered, but the threat didn't seem to register with either student.

"What I'm getting at, Toshima, is that you jumped to conclusions, which is something I teach against in any situation." Toshima's gaze fell to the rotting wood floor. "But don't feel like I'm putting you on the spot here. I'm sure it was sensitive information, and please don't feel pressured to share it with me." Nagisa remembered how Toshima opened up to him a few days ago, when he learned about the incident. "If you want to, however, I'm all ears."

"So, if Kazama did indeed give away your secret, your anger is absolutely justified. And Kazama, if you did tell your friend's secrets to a third party, shame on you. But what if Kazama didn't tell? I want answers from both of you."

Kazama looked at his former friend. "Then I got decked in the face by a guy I thought was my friend."

Toshima breathed shallowly. "Then I alienated one of my few friends, embarrassed both of us in front of a whole class, and landed us both in 3-5."

Kazama actually cracked a smile for the first time all day. "Eh. I was headed here anyway. But you had a future." He resigned. Surprisingly, Toshima smiled in return.

"Hold it, you two" Their short teachers effeminate voice interjected. " _Had_ a future? As in, past tense? You both _have_ a future. Things may be rough today, but they don't have to be in a year or ten." Nagisa had more flashbacks to his year with a yellow mach 20 octopus and twenty seven other trained assassins. "It's okay if you mess up today, you just have to win someday." And Nagisa knew that his words would be well received by them.

The two walked out the door after they finished cleaning, together, laughing about that math homework that look them four hours to finish (Nagisa had in fact just graded it; both did well). Pleased with today, Nagisa headed home.

* * *

The days wore on that week. Kawaguchi sometimes stopped by, full of tales of woe from years past. Full of advice on how to survive under this administration. The novice educator heard even more stories about his students, and took notes. The other teachers were finally starting to remember his name, and even invited him to drink with them. Nagisa had poured over the gradebooks, and his students' grades were already showing improvement. Oddly, he did see Nakagawa for the first time since the incident. He was being swarmed by his students, needing help for some big essay he assigned. He did not notice Nagisa, for which Nagisa was glad.

Something always seemed to be bothering Kayano. It was a mystery as to what it was. Always vague complaints about not feeling well and just being generally upset. Nagisa had thought it might be leftover emotions about her father. Mr. Yukimura did stop by that Friday night, bearing "housewarming" gifts. Dishes, decorative handtowels, wine glasses, and mostly things that they didn't really need as they had been living here a while but accepted happily. He stayed for a few hours while they caught up some more. Nagisa did at least seem to have his stamp of approval.

Monday eventually arrived. April 24th, thirty-two days til midterms, the chalkboard counted down. Toshima and Kazama walked in together evidently conversing about some local sports game that was on over the weekend. The class was calmer and more relaxed these days.

After class, Nagisa tutored Aida and Banno, and when he left the room he was surprised to see Toshima waiting outside the room. "What can I help you with?" He greeted his pupil.

"Um, I just figured I shouldn't leave you hanging with the story about my mom... She had cancer and was hospitalized. That's what I thought Kazama had told. And I didn't want people to pity me."

"Wow. I'm sorry to hear." Nagisa didn't want the boy to misconstrue his sympathy as pity, so he was careful with his word choice. "Is she okay?"

"Totally cancer-free as of December of last year. So I'm glad to put that altercation behind us." He blushed at the last statement.

"Glad to help." Nagisa felt pride, in both himself and his students.

* * *

Nagisa came home to Kayano curled up on the couch, wearing his clothing again. She turned to acknowledge him. She looked into his baby blue eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, then shut it, obviously contemplating what to say.

Nagisa was concerned. "What is it Kayano? Are you still upset?" He sat down next to her. "Do we need to call-"

Kayano put her hand up to silence him. "It's missing."

"What's missing?"

"You know. That time. It was supposed to come today but it hasn't." She was toying with the pearl necklace again.

Nagisa's breath was taken away. "Kayano are you..."

"I don't know. I haven't taken the test yet. I mean we're on the pill but it can fail..." She buried herself in Nagisa's arms.

"Shh... We'll figure it out." He tried to feign confidence, but his voice betrayed his emotions otherwise. He nervously ran his fingers through her hair. "Do we have the test? The home one, I mean."

"Y-yeah. I ran out in my disguise and bought one once I realized it was missing."

"Go take it now. Want me to come in with you?"

"Yes."

Minutes later, they were sitting on the couch again, waiting for the test to produce results. Kayano was trembling in Nagisa's arms. He heard her praying under her breath to her dead mother and sister for it to be negative.

He gave her hand a squeeze. Kayano lifted her head. "I think it's ready now." Nagisa nodded. They turned to look at the test.

It was positive. Both felt as if the ground had been pulled out from underneath them.

It was Kayano who began to cry first, grabbing and clutching her abdomen. Nagisa leaned in closer and kissed the top of her head. "Everything's going to be fine. We'll make it work, Akari." He whispered, trying to soothe her.

"I know we will... But how?"

* * *

 **There you go. I know I'm not the first person to write about pregnant Kayano/Akari or Nagikae babies but I just loved the idea and simply had to include it. I also considered postponing that plot point til later, but the timing of it is very important. Thoughts?**


	8. Chapter 8

**My plan was to get this chapter out by yesterday (7/20) because that was Nagisa's birthday, but that didn't pan out. Starting tomorrow, I'll be on vacation for a week. I'm not sure what my update rate will be like, because my family is going away and I don't know what activities we have planned. I will update as often as I can. I'm also working on two other AssClass fics (both requests), so expect those before the end of the summer  
**

* * *

"Akari..." Nagisa breathed, blinking away tears. "Akari."

She looked up at him wordlessly.

"Can I call you that now? Like, outside of the bedroom. We're having a baby together, for goodness sake. I would hope-"

"Yes." Her voice was no longer shaking. "Call me Akari. Please."

He smiled, genuinely. "I love you, Akari." He kissed her lips, then traveled down to her belly, kissing it too. "And our baby."

Akari rubbed his head. "I love you too, Nagisa." She pulled him in, while he was still curled into her belly. Now was the time to answer that other question he had.

"Does this mean we're officially a couple?"

"You're so dense. We've been officially a couple for almost a year now." He could hear her smiling.

* * *

 _Well, what a way to start the week,_ Nagisa monologued to himself as he rode the train to work every day that week. He was still in shock from the news. _I just barely finished adapting to being an adult at all, and already I'm a father._ A carpet of cherry blossoms covered the streets that lead to the school.

It was now Golden Week, meaning the school had the week off from classes. So Nagisa was left lying around the house, not doing much of anything. Akari had off of work too, now that the most recent season of her drama had finished filming. She had asked her manager for an extended hiatus for "medical reasons", and it had been granted. Season three would begin filming in February of 2025.

There was no money to go anywhere or do anything. Nagisa tried to come up with lesson plans, but he couldn't think straight enough to do that. He managed to scribble down a few vague ideas for his class, that would have to do for now. First thing most mornings, Akari would run to the bathroom to throw up, Nagisa would hold her hair back, then they'd go back to sleep for thirty more minutes. Rinse, repeat, until about 9 a.m., when Akari's drama came on.

Today was May 1st. Nagisa and Akari were at the OBGYN's office. Dr. Ishikawa would come back shortly with the results of the blood test. Kanade Ishikawa had been Akari's gynecologist for years. She was smart, compassionate, and most importantly would not say the wrong things to the wrong people.

The doctor came in. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Anyways the results are in; you're definitely pregnant." She dove right in without greetings.

Now that it was certain, Nagisa felt his heart stop.

"... When are we due? Is it a boy or a girl? Wait, are we having twins!?" Questions just seemed to fall out of Nagisa's mouth, unbidden.

"I take it you're the father?" The doctor turned to Akari, who nodded in answer. "Well, it's good to see you care so much. You're five weeks along, your due date is New Year's Eve, so no New Year's parties this year." She joked. "You can schedule an ultrasound anytime, the embryo should be visible by next week. But it will be at least two months til you find out of it's a boy or a girl."

Akari and Nagisa ended up leaving the clinic with pamphlets upon pamphlets of information about pregnancy, what to do and what not to do, and how horrifying childbirth is. This was Koro-sensei level of preparation. "Oh and one more thing," Dr. Ishikawa called out the door. "No more jumping off of cliffs during your morning drama!"

Akari laughed. "That's actually a stunt double, but duly noted."

* * *

Soon school was in session again. May 8th. Eighteen days til midterms. Nagisa grabbed a plastic ruler, as metal rulers had been confiscated amidst (admittedly true) rumors that 3-5 was using them as weapons, and tapped it on the desk of Aida, who had fallen fast asleep in math class.

"I understand you want it to still be vacation, but it's not. And midterms are coming up, so we all need to study hard to prove ourselves to the school. I'm sure you'll find it harder to fall asleep in an air-conditioned classroom." The blue-haired teacher chirped.

"Shiota-sensei, " Aida blinked a few times, then rubbed his eyes. "I was up all night doing the homework you assigned."

"I didn't assign anything over the break." Nagisa frowned.

"Then what was I doing two a.m. last night, while running on energy drinks?" Aida unintentionally wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but you should be budgeting your time wisely. And establishing a good sleep schedule. You'll be in college in a less than a year." Nagisa feared that he was getting too preachy recently. He needed to find ways to relate to his students. "Plus, too much caffeine stunts your growth. That's what happened to me." He was able to get a chuckle out of some of the students within earshot.

Nagisa was about to end class for the day. An idea came to him. He stood up to command the attention of the class. "There will be a surprise pop quiz on Friday. Well I guess it's not really a surprise now that I told you about it, but it's a surprise as to what subject it's in." It was going to be in health, with a focus on managing stress during the exam season. "Don't stress out over it, just focus on studying for the midterms."

As everyone began to filter out, Hamada approached Kasegawa and whispered in her ear. The average person would not have been able to hear what he said to her, but Nagisa was a highly trained assassin.

 _"Can you unlock the art studio for me?"_

She nodded yes and the two took off down the hall.

 _Wait how can Kasegawa access the art studio?_ Nagisa was a bit perplexed. After the event that occurred the second day of Nagisa's job, the room was now only open during classtime and lunchtime (according to Kawaguchi, it used to be open all the time). Nagisa considered following them for a second, but was stopped by Tsukuda trying to push him out the window with a broom. He dodged and grabbed the makeshift weapon without even thinking.

He had forgotten that today was Tsukuda's day for cleanup/tutoring. He playfully scolded his student for letting an assassination attempt distract from his education. As the boy was struggling in science at the moment, Nagisa drew a diagram of an atom on the board and labeled all its components. The door was open, and Nagisa kept his eye on it, waiting. Maybe fifteen minutes later, he saw what he was waiting for. Hamada and Kasegawa walked by. Nagisa noticed Kasegawa slip that pouch she always had with her into her pocket. He put two and two together.

Kasegawa had the master key to the school. Nagisa almost rolled his eyes. This was definitely going to cause issues in the future.

* * *

Friday was upon them again. 3-5 was now taking the pop quiz that their teacher had promised them. Their facial expressions did not seem to indicate frustration or anger at all, they seemed confident about the subject. While they were distracted, Nagisa took the photo of the ultrasound out of his bag and lovingly looked at it. The baby was circled in red marker. His son or daughter was only about 5 millimeters long, but in under 8 months, he would finally be able to hold him or her.

Little did the former assassin know, his students were not as distracted as he had thought and were wondering what had him in such a dreamy state.

* * *

 **I had to rewrite parts of this chapter several times. It ended up being a little bit more dramatic than I had planned for. Again, please leave your thoughts in the reviews. Signing off, PMG.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Have another chapter. From now on, Kayano will be referred to as Akari. Please enjoy!**

* * *

May 15th. Eleven days 'til midterms.

It was nine in the morning, and Nagisa could have sworn he heard a meow.

 _I'm definitely not drunk_ , he was certain. Though he did get few hours of sleep due to Akari's kicking around all night...

"Okay, is there a cat in this room or is this another assassination attempt?"

Izumoto spoke up. "No, I heard it too."

Nagisa followed the sound of the meowing, it lead him to Tsukuda's desk. The blond covered the zipper of his bag. "It's my ringtone."

"Oh? Who's calling?" Nagisa tilted his head.

"Um... Aida?" He obviously said the first person who came to mind.

"Dude, I'm _right here_." Aida deadpanned.

A gray kitten's head stuck out of Tsukuda's bag.

Unconsciously, an audible 'aww' escaped the lips of everyone in the room (Including Kagato). Nagisa picked the kitten out of the bag. It mewed.

"Looks like the cat's out of the bag now, huh?" Kazama exclaimed. The rest of the class sweatdropped.

The young teacher was astounded. "... You stuck a _cat_ in your schoolbag and brought it to class?"

"Well, one part of that isn't entirely correct..."

Five more kittens jumped out onto the floor.

"You stuck _multiple cats_ in your schoolbag and brought them to class today?"

"Shiota-sensei, they were in a box on the side of the road! I couldn't just leave them there!"

Toshima scooped up one, followed by Banno, Kasegawa, and Izumoto. "Yeah, my parents are in Australia 'finding themselves' so I can take one or all of them." Banno put the black kitten on his desk.

"My parents don't even live in this country." Toshima said, claiming the white kitten.

"My mom's too drunk to argue with me about my grades, yet alone a cat." Kasegawa picked up the brown one, placing it in her lap.

"And we pick up strays all the time." Izumoto cradled the ginger and white one like a baby.

Now all the kittens seemed to be homed- all except the one in Nagisa's hands. He looked at it and sighed. _I don't know how we'll afford this, but here goes_ , he thought to himself. He held the kitten for the rest of the day. The kitten squirmed as he went over quadratic equations and fell asleep as he read Vonnegut.

* * *

Classes had now ended for the day and Nagisa was done with tutoring students after school. He received a text from Akari.

 **Okuda and Karma are over the apartment. They still don't know, btw.**

Nagisa prepared himself for the onslaught of teasing, at least on Karma's end. He replied.

 **Okay. I've got a surprise of my own.**

The student-teacher entered the apartment, taking off his shoes. "Taidaima." He could hear his friends in the living room.

"Anyway that party was lit, desperate as it is I went around drinking everyone's leftover drinks-" It was Karma. He wasn't lying when he said that bureaucrats were hard partiers.

Nagisa stepped into the living room, hiding the kitten in his bag. "Akari," He called.

Karma's face lit up. "You call her by her real name now, huh? I hear wedding bells."

Nagisa and Akari chuckled. "I sure do." Nagisa didn't deny it. Okuda wore a satisfied smile upon seeing this development. "Wait 'til you see what my students brought in."

All eyes were on him. Nagisa pulled the fluffy creature out of his bag, prompting another series of 'aww's. Akari scooped up the kitten and sat on the floor with it, cooing and doting over it. She was joined by her friends and her lover.

"So someone just brought her in and left her with you?" Karma was petting the cat's head. She purred.

"Well... he brought in a boxfull. They were left on the side of the road. They all found homes but this one. So I had to."

"How precious." Akari was fascinated. _Her maternal instinct must be kicking in_ , Nagisa thought.

The four sat for the rest of the night, chatting and catching up about their lives. The kitten seemed to have attached itself to Okuda. She never wanted to leave her lap and intermittently fell asleep there. When the kitty woke up, it pawed at her legs.

"Momo needs some food." Okuda said, searching her purse for snack suitable for a cat.

"You already gave it a name?" Nagisa got up to get some canned tuna.

Akari sighed. "I was hoping we could keep her, but it's obvious she's imprinted on Okuda."

The scientist blushed. "I'm flattered, can I?" She wrapped the kitty up in the towel that they had laid down.

"I think it's a good idea." Nagisa and Karma both agreed.

Before long, the guests were on their way out the door. Nagisa caught Karma's attention by poking him with a carton of strawberry milk.

"Karma?"

"Yes?"

"You can tell everyone we're living together." Nagisa said, holding Akari's hand. They knew that E Class would have to be given this news gradually. 'We live together and are dating and are having a baby' was a lot to take in at once. So the rest would have to come later. They were just glad that Akari didn't have to throw up during these three hours.

Karma's signature sadistic grin came back. "Why don't you post it in our line chat, that thing hasn't been updated in ages..."

* * *

It was Saturday. Having spent all morning in the bathroom nursing what felt like a hangover, Nagisa and Akari were in the department store shopping for maternity clothes. Akari was in her old disguise. She wouldn't need maternity clothes for a while, but it was best to be prepared. As Nagisa backed the cart out of the aisle, contemplating stocking up on diapers and burp rags (do those things expire?), he accidentally backed into a familiar face.

"K-Karasuma-sensei?" Nagisa tried to come up with an excuse as to why they were in the maternity section.

"Yes, it's me." Their former teacher smiled, revealing premature wrinkles and gray hair. He still looked like he hadn't slept in a decade. Government work must be very stressful.

Akari appeared next to him. "Hey Karasuma-sensei. Fancy seeing you here. Is Bitch-sensei with you?"

"Yeah, in the shoe section. I'm just here to pay. I'm over here to look for a bathroom." Karasuma sighed. It was obvious he was going to question why they were in the baby section, but decided to drop it.

Nagisa and Akari exchanged a glance, and Nagisa leaned in to whisper in her ear.

 _"Should we tell him?"_

Akari paused for a second, then whispered back.

 _"No. Let's tell them along with the rest of the class later."_

Nagisa nodded. He wondered who they should tell first.

* * *

All the next week, Nagisa devoted every moment of class time to studying, and preparing his students for the midterms. Sometimes he'd feel like he was going too hard on them, then he would remind himself that getting good grades on this exam meant a better environment for his students.

The day of reckoning had come. May 26th. Nagisa stood at his desk, alone in his classroom. He knew that his students were in the gymnasium (the makeshift test-taking room), leaning on temporary desks, holding pencils that would probably break by the end of the day.

Nagisa sat down, waiting.


	10. Chapter 10

**Now I'm working on three other AssClass fics. All probably lengthy oneshots (Maybe one will be multi-chapter). Anyway, here's chapter 10.**

* * *

Nagisa dreaded going to school on Monday. At lunchtime the grades and rankings for the midterms would be posted. He arrived at work with a chill running down his spine in spite of the oppressive heat and humidity of late May.

After what felt like the longest morning ever, lunchtime finally rolled around and a voice on the intercom announced that grades were posted. Nagisa froze for a second, caught his breath, then exited the room, headed to the front of the building. His students followed him, some with more confidence than others. Some shuddered, some grinned, some seemed to have no emotions to speak of.

He was still shorter than most of the students, so he would have had to push to get to the front to see. But Nagisa didn't want to be too aggressive, so he hung back until he could get past a trio of students who left, clearly dejected about their rankings.

Time seemed to move very slowly as Nagisa took baby steps forward. _I did the best I could to prepare them,_ he thought, dodging an arm that unintentionally swung back at him. _And their grades have been improving a lot recently. Azuki got a 79 on last week's trigonometry test, Takemura's grade in English has risen by 38 percent since finals of his second year, Banno really surprised me the other day with his knowledge of how ice cream is made..._ Nagisa silently prayed to his teacher. _Koro-sensei, please let them have done well, I just want them to improve, that's my job, and... Yukimura-sensei? Er, can I call you Aguri? Can I pray to you to too? I mean, I would have been your brother-in-law, so I would think it'd be okay for me to ask for your-_ The cute little bluenette's train of thought was abruptly stopped when he walked face first into the board showcasing the achievements of this year level. Nagisa craned his neck to look.

He scanned the list. Not methodically, just to search for his students' names. And he found them. Hayata Banno, 88th place (Out of 100). Konosuke Takemura, 81st place. Kentaro Toshima, 51st place. Hiro Izumoto, 86th place. Ichiro Kagato, 85th place. Kimiya Shisaki, 62nd place. Kotori Kasegawa, 77th place. Moritaka Hamada, 80th place. Yoshio Azuki,82nd place . Mamoru Kazama, 78th place. Yukito Tsukuda, 65th place. Shigeki Aida, 68th place.

Nagisa felt in a daze. A hand, seemingly out of nowhere, patted his shoulder. He looked up. It was Shintaro Nakagawa. Of all times to rub it in. He patted Nagisa's head gently. "Sorry about your first exam season." He smiled condescendingly. "But I'm sure you'll figure out how to deal with them soon. Your class, I mean."

Nagisa felt himself start to fume. _How dare use this to try to intimidate me, he's just still paranoid about the storage room incident..._ Nagisa debated how to react. He chose to play it cool with a bit of passive-aggression. "Haha, I'm not afraid of a challenge."

 _I can't let this asshole get to me,_ Nagisa repeatedly told himself. _I have to react in a productive way, one that will benefit my students..._ A certain octopus came to mind yet again.

* * *

Nagisa stood at his desk in the front of the classroom. There wasn't a sound in the whole room. Class 3-5 knew what was coming. And they were surprised.

"Oh well! We'll try again next time!" Their sensei beamed. It reminded them of the time he put Kagato in his place on his first day here. "Now, open up your textbooks to page-"

An eraser came flying at him. He swatted it without even looking up. Its owner spoke up.

"Dude, didn't we have a deal? You'd stand still and let us hit you-" Azuki began.

"Excuse me?" Nagisa titled his head. "I said I'd stand still fifteen seconds _per student who made it into the top 50_. None of you did. So you'll be back to assassinating me the old-fashioned way. No handicaps. You didn't keep up your end of the bargain, why should I?" 3-5 silently cursed their classmate for bringing it up. It stung to hear, but they knew that what their sensei said was true.

"Dammit Toshima, you just missed our opportunity. Why couldn't you have studied a bit harder?" Kagato dared to be the next person to speak up.

There was dead silence again. Nagisa inhaled. "Don't you _dare_ blame him for your shortcomings. Especially when you didn't do any better."

Every teenager in the room was tense. They then stood up and bowed at a 45 degree angle.

"We're so sorry Shiota-sensei!"

"We'll do better next time!"

"Please calm down!"

Nagisa chuckled a bit. "Take your seats, class." They reluctantly did so. "I'm disappointed, but I'm not _angry_ with you. It was admittedly a bit ridiculous of the administration to expect that kind of improvement in such a short amount of time. And you all  did show some improvement-"

"Yeah, I finally cracked the top 90!" Banno announced with joy.

"See! It's a little victory, but we'll take it." If Nagisa were Koro-sensei, his face would have a dark red circle on it right now. "We still have a lot of time left to dominate the top 50." All the tension seemed to have left the students' faces, and many sighs of relief were breathed. "But I want you to understand the ramifications of this. We're not getting the money to fix our room, and I'm not giving you that handicap. And that's no one particular person's fault, it's _everyone's_. We just couldn't meet the requirements set, and that's fine. We'll have to accept it and work harder next time."

* * *

School was done for the day. Nagisa was packing up when he received a visitor. "Hello, Shiota-san? It's me, Principal Gakuto Akino."

Nagisa immediately bowed once he heard the voice. "H-hello."

Principal Akino walked right in, closely examining the items on the shelves. "You remember the letter I sent you a while ago?"

"The one about the repairs? Yes." Nagisa knew where this was going.

"I just wanted you to know we are men of our word. If you want to appeal our decision to withhold the funding feel free to formally do so, but as of now, that money is not yours." It was like talking to Principal Asano all over again.

"I understand that." Nagisa distracted himself by stuffing his bag full of papers that didn't need to be graded.

"Maybe if you can surprise me on the this semester's finals..." Akino paused before exiting the room.

Nagisa stood for a moment, debating whether to take the principal up on his challenge again.

* * *

It was now the first of June. Nagisa and Akari couldn't believe how the last few months had flown by. This particular evening was very hot and humid, and they sat on their balcony accompanied by Mr. Yukimura. Nagisa had gone inside to get them some more tea, and Akari followed him to "help". She pulled him closer, and gave him that look again.

"We should tell him. Now." She whispered.

"Alright." Nagisa breathed deeply.

Akari beckoned her father to join them inside, careful to shut the door tightly behind, while Nagisa carefully arranged mochi in the bowl on the table.

"So, we have news," Akari began, holding Nagisa hand subtly under the coffee table.

"Your daughter and I are dating and I live here with her." Nagisa didn't even wait for his father-in-law to respond.

"I thought you said you had news." Mr. Yukimura snickered, picking up a mochi.

"You know!?" Akari gasped.

"It's obvious. Remember I was young once too."

Nagisa gulped. "And there's something else..."

Akari squeezed his hand. "We're expecting."

Nagisa didn't even have time to witness Mr. Yukimura's reaction, he shot up so quickly and ran to his daughter, once again with tears streaming down his face.

"Are you sure?"

Akari hugged her father. "Yes, we're sure."

"I finally have some grandchildren..." Mr. Yukimura trailed off.

Nagisa handed him a tissue. "Here, Mr. Yukimura."

"Call me Satoshi. Please."


	11. Chapter 11

The next week, the weather was even warmer and sunnier. The rainy season should start any moment now, though. An idea came to Nagisa as he rushed off to school one Tuesday morning. Best to take advantage of the weather while it was here.

When he got to class, late, his students were actually at their desks, and seemed to be behaving themselves and having civil conversations. This was a welcome improvement. Just a month ago they would have been brawling over who said what about who's best friend, or loudly placing bets on how long their friends' relationships would last.

Nagisa cleared his throat and stood at his desk. "Sorry I'm late class. I live with my pregnant girlfriend, and I spent the morning holding back her hair as she threw up."

"Ew!" Kasegawa made a horrified face (a bit of an overreaction, Nagisa thought).

"Congratulations." Toshima smiled.

"Are you sure you're the father? I mean, you clearly have no balls." It was Kagato. Of course.

The twenty-two year old rolled his blue eyes. "Yes, I'm quite positive it's mine. Anyways, I have an idea: Let's have class outside today!"

About half the class cheered, about half did quite the opposite.

* * *

This campus was right at the base of a mountain, just like Kunugigaoka. As Nagisa climbed the mountain with his class, he was hit with another wave of nostalgia. _I haven't been to the old E Class campus in a while_ , he thought, stopping to let a lizard run past him. _Maybe I'll do that soon. Wait, should I bring my students..._ Nagisa looked up to the sky, as if hoping Koro-sensei and Aguri-sensei would fall from Heaven to give their permission.

"I hate the outdoors." Hamada muttered, swatting a mosquito away.

"I hate everything." Kasegawa commiserated.

Others seemed thrilled with this change in scenery. Kagato and Izumoto were running around playing makeshift North American Football with a bundle of leaves wrapped up in a bigger leaf.

"Go long!" Izumoto shouted as he kicked the leaf-ball a bit harder than he intended, causing it to tumble off the side of a cliff that no one but Nagisa had realized was there. In hindsight, he really should have warned them about it.

Another realization dawned upon the new teacher: This class had a reputation for truancy. Yet in the (more than) two months he had been teaching, he could count the number of absences on one hand. There was Kasegawa's outburst about the Chemistry test, resulting in her skipping half a day. Azuki had missed a day in April because of a cold (this was definitely not a lie, he had been coughing and wheezing the whole previous day) and Izumoto had missed one a few weeks ago to take his cat to the vet after she was hit by a car (luckily, she was fine). Nagisa smiled to himself, and liked to think that they were just so eager to learn from him, just like how they started doing their homework once he became their teacher.

"Um, Shiota-sensei?" Toshima was suddenly next to him.

"Oh! Sorry Toshima, I didn't notice you there."

"I've been standing here for like ten minutes..." Toshima deadpanned.

"Sorry, I was deep in thought. What do you need?"

"I was just thinking... This is the first class you've ever taught, yet you have a very clear idea of what you're doing. Like... Why?"

Nagisa didn't know how to answer this question properly. "When I was even younger than you, I had an outstanding teacher, one who really inspired me to follow the same path. A lot of what I'm trying with you, he taught me."

Toshima was clearly trying to connect some dots in his mind. "Did... Did you kill your teacher?"

Nagisa laughed. "Don't be silly."

* * *

They finally arrived at their destination- a little clearing on the side of the mountain. Nagisa plopped himself down on the grass. Everyone else followed suit.

"Our first subject of the day is Modern Japanese." He announced.

"Wait, isn't it usually English?" Azuki asked.

"I've decided to mix it up a bit." Nagisa replied. "Takemura?"

"Yes?" The lanky teenager was flustered.

"Two years ago, you moved here from southern Kyuushuu, am I right?"

"Y-you are." Takemura was clearly still scared of his teacher.

"I'm sure the Japanese they speak in Kagoshima isn't the same as the Japanese we speak here." Nagisa pulled a bunch of papers out of his bag.

"It isn't."

"Here are some references," Nagisa passed the papers around. "These are various written materials- passages from novels, magazine articles, newspapers- from Kyuushuu. Take your red pens out and highlight the things you don't recognize from the Kanto dialect." Nagisa got out his notepad and began to take notes on how his students reacted to the new environment. Kazama seemed to focus better then he did in the classroom. Aida seemed to distracted by the birds flying around, and Shisaki and Banno didn't seem to be affected by the scenery at all. A giant dragonfly even landed on Banno's face, and he remained oblivious until Nagisa pointed it out.

When the assignment was done and the conclusions were shared, Nagisa collected the papers and another thought came to him. What about that thing that Principal Akino told him...

"I have another big announcement." He addressed his class. "The last time I spoke to Principal Akino, he did confirm what I told you. We're not getting the funds to fix the room. But that much I assumed without being told." Without thinking about it, Nagisa caught a rock from midair, one that his student had launched at him. "Nice try Takemura, but I saw you winding your arm back from a million miles away." The culprit hid behind Azuki out of embarrassment.

"The thing that I did not expect was that he said he might reconsider if we can surprise him on the finals in late July."

Another pause. Then came the responses.

"But, what does he mean by that? How am I supposed to know what impresses him?" Shisaki furrowed his brow.

"What if we don't manage to do that? Is the challenge still on the table for second semester then?" Hamada pulled up grass from the ground.

But the usually polite and calm Toshima was the only one to get actually upset about it. "Dammit!" He yelled. "Screw that guy. We don't need his pity. Once was enough. Let's raise the money for repairs ourselves!"

This proposition caught everyone's attention. "How?"

"I don't know exactly, we could pool together our spare pocket money-" Toshima was at a loss.

"We could do a fundraiser!" Nagisa added, liking where this was going. Unity and independence were qualities he wanted to foster in his pupils.

"For what?" Several voices echoed. "What can we offer?"

"You know what, project time." Nagisa smirked. "Each of you come up with an idea for a fundraiser. Bring in your idea on Monday morning and we'll vote on it! Nothing illegal, please."

* * *

Nagisa and Akari invited Karma and Okuda over on Friday night. They had decided it was time for their friends to know about the baby. Nagisa was doing some last minute cleaning when the doorbell rung. He let the guests in. Karma and Okuda sat on the couch and the four spent the next few hours laughing and talking about frivolous things. But the news had to be broken eventually.

"So..." The once-assassin suddenly became very interested in the floor. "Akari- I mean, Kayano and I have something important to tell you."

The evil bureaucrat looked at him expectantly, while Okuda, still in her lab coat, raised her eyes from the fabric Akari was knitting.

Nagisa was the one to say it this time. "We're having a baby."

There was no belated reaction at all. Okuda immediately started gasping and covering her mouth in shock. Karma looked like it was Christmas and his birthday all at once.

"Hey, Karma? Why are you on the phone right now?"

"I gotta tell Nakamura so we can die laughing together!"

Nagisa just decided to let his old friends get it out of their system.

Nakamura's groggy voice could be heard on the other end (Of course Karma put the phone on speaker). "Karma, it's two a.m. here. I get up for work in five hours. This better be important."

Karma twirled his finger through his hair. "Oops. I forgot about time zones. Anyways this is the most important thing you'll ever hear in your life!" He choked out between giggles.

"What?"

"Nagisa knocked Kayano up!"

There was a pause, then uproarious laughter erupted from the speakerphone. Nagisa feared that the speaker might blow out. The three could even picture their friend, doubled over in hysterics and wiping tears from her eyes. Karma was in sync with her, almost collapsed over in mirth.

"Oh my goodness are they there? Put me on speaker now!"

"They are, and you are."

A muffled sound came from the phone. "Rio, who's calling you at this time of night and what's so funny about it?"

"Oh, sorry Will, it's old school friends, I'll just relocate to the other room..." The blonde replied. "I laughed so hard I woke up my boyfriend. Anyways, how long have you known? When are you due? Is it a boy or a girl?"

Akari sat up straight, smiling. "We found out right before Golden Week. Due on New Year's Eve. We don't know about the gender yet."

Nagisa couldn't stop a smile from forming on his lips. At least so far all their friends and family were on board with it. He just hoped his mother would chose not to be so... _herself_ when she would find out. And that his father would actually pay attention...


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's note: In all of my AssClass stories, I am assuming that the events of the Assassination Classroom occurred during the 2015-2016 school year, and I am calculating the dates of the events of GTN (seven years later) based on that. So this is during the 2023-2024 school year, just in case anyone wanted to know. As always, please review.**

* * *

"So, any ideas for the fundraiser?"

It was Monday morning once again, and Nagisa was at the chalkboard prepared to make a list of his students' ideas.

Izumoto's hand went up. "We could start a poker tournament and charge to get in, then-"

"I said nothing illegal." Nagisa cut him off, writing 'NO' on the board.

Kasegawa spoke up next. "My mom's got a ton of booze, let's jack up the prices by like twice the normal amount and sell it all at-"

"That's illegal on a number of levels." Nagisa facepalmed. "Does anyone else have any suggestions? Any serious ones? Even something very elementary school like a lemonade stand?"

The class went silent.

"Well, it's now your assignment for today. If no one can come up with anything by the end of the day, I'm going through with the swear jar idea. With your vocabularies, we'll have the funds to build ourselves a new school."

Nagisa wandered around the room between math and science classes, looking for a ruler that hadn't yet smashed into fragments. No luck so far.

"Hey Banno! Why don't you charge at the door for your parties? With last weekend's turnout alone, we could turn this room into a freaking five star hotel." Aida inquired.

Banno sighed. "Parties aren't about making money, they're about hanging out and having a good time."

"Plus there was the incident a while ago," Izumoto started, staring at a bird outside the window.

"What incident?" Takemura turned his attention away from the pencil he was sharpening (probably to later use as a weapon against Nagisa).

"The incident that no one will ever speak of again." Shisaki snapped at his classmate.

Nagisa grabbed the pencil and sharpener. "Pay attention to what you're doing. You were about to slice your finger right open." He finished sharpening the pencil and handed it back to Takemura.

As he was beginning science class, Nagisa wondered if he should try to figure out what "the incident" was...

* * *

"I've got it!" Tsukuda exclaimed during history, their last class of the day. "How to raise money for our repairs."

Nagisa put the papers that needed to be graded in his bag. "Well, tell us."

"You know how we're all artists?"

"Actually, we're not all-" Azuki interrupted.

"Well you are now, because I said so." Tsukuda retorted. "I'm sure if we were to ask Narayama-sensei, he probably still has all our paintings from the past two years. I'm sure they're buried in the storage room somewhere, where the vandal wouldn't have gotten to them. And since we're not allowed to put our works in the art show in a few weeks- because we're 3-5- no one's going to be able to appreciate them. So we should sell them."

"Yes! I've got plenty! This'll be great!" Hamada was floored.

"Ugh, that crappy painting of a koi fish I did in the tenth grade?" Kasegawa muttered. "You know what, my grandma might buy it."

"You know, I can draw a decent picture of this school..." Kazama looked like he had a sudden inspiration.

"All in favor?" Nagisa asked. Every hand in the room went up.

* * *

Nagisa walked to the train station with Kawaguchi. He was correct that the rainy season would begin soon, for it now seemed that there was no end to the downpours recently.

"So I've just gotta ask the principal if it's okay, then I'll try to contact the art teacher..." Nagisa sidestepped a large puddle, clutching his umbrella in one hand and his bag in another.

The older man walked alongside him. "It should be fine. The principal admires resilience, so he might actually be impressed that you're refusing to bend to his whims and are finding your own alternative."

Nagisa admired his companion. He had been teaching for far longer than anyone else at Paradise High, yet he was still as enthusiastic about education today as the twenty-two year old Nagisa was. He seemed to know all the ins and outs and was willing to lend a hand. Such a shame he never knew Koro-sensei, they would have gotten along well.

"What about Narayama? I've worked here for over two months and I still haven't gotten a hold of him. What's he like?"

"Really no surprise he's been avoiding you. He's... secretive. He's known me for more than ten years and still refuses to have a full conversation with me. Very strange guy. Not like Nakagawa, he treats you like the most important person in the room. And Shibata's quietness, on the other hand, is actually calming..." Kawaguchi talked on.

 _If only you knew_ , Nagisa thought, sidestepping another puddle.

* * *

He unlocked and opened the door the the flat. "Tadaima," He announced, taking his shoes off.

He could hear Akari sobbing in the living room. He rushed there, finding his girlfriend curled in a fetal position on the floor still wearing the same pajamas she slept in the previous night.

"Akari!?" He lay down on the floor next to her. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Nagisa," She clutched his shoulder, pulling herself into an embrace. "I spent all day eating everything in our fridge. Then I was about to text you about how much I missed you, but then a commercial about babies came on! And-" She dried her eyes on his shirt. "I just couldn't stop crying."

He patted her back, smiling. "It's okay. Let it all out. It's okay if you're moody, you're growing a person inside you."

Akari's tears ceased after a few moments. "... So yeah, now we sort of have no food..."

* * *

Nagisa had invited his parents over on Friday. They were next on the list of 'people who need to know about Nagisa and Akari's baby'. Nagisa's parents sat on the sofa, while Nagisa leaned against the wall and Akari shuffled back and forth. Akari had suggested inviting over Satoshi as well, figuring that the families should meet each other, but Nagisa insisted that it would be too much for his mother to take in at once. And he also wanted Satoshi to have a good impression of his new in-laws, something that wouldn't happen if he were here tonight...

"Nagisa, I have a lot of questions." Hiromi Shiota said, breaking the comfortable silence.

"L-Like what?" The bluenette finally found his voice.

"Like 'How can you afford to live here' and 'Who is this girl and why is she over right now'."

Nagisa sighed. "You remember Kaede Kayano, my friend from Kunugigaoka? This is her, she just changed her hairstyle. And she's here because we live together." Nagisa didn't even stop to look at his parents' reactions, he just blurted out the rest. "And she's pregnant."

Nagisa didn't dare to look either of them in the eye, but knew his mother heard it when he felt himself being pulled by his hair. He tried to ignore the pain and focus on the pitter-patter of the rain on the rooftop.

"You absolute fucking moron! How could you do this to your poor mother? I spend so much time and money raising you, and this is how you repay me?" She pushed her son back into the wall, then turned to the mother of her grandchild. "And you're no better."

Hiromi stormed out the door, leaving her family paralyzed. Nagisa didn't have much of a reaction, he knew it would happen and he knew she'd be back to make amends within a week.

Nagisa's dad snorted. "Just you wait. If it's a girl she'll come running right back."

* * *

 **Huh, this got a bit angsty at the end... I promise Nagisa's mom won't act like this forever though.  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**Later this week, expect a long oneshot about Koro-sensei (requested by the lovely Shiranai Atsune), and this weekend expect another long oneshot about Nakamura's life in America (and yet another one about Nagisa and Gakushuu later this month). I was hoping to get the first one out this past weekend, but I had a really rough weekend and wasn't able to finish it. My cat died after over a month of serious illness (hence why an entire chapter of this fic derailed to be about cats) and that really left me without inspiration or energy. Nonetheless, I was able to get this done today.**

* * *

True to Nagisa's prediction, Hiromi did not come back for the rest of the night. Nagisa's father stayed with Nagisa and Akari for a few hours, excited about his grandchild (at least it seemed like it), but then soon left to tend to his wife. The rest of the weekend went by in a mess of rain and thunder.

The next week arrived, and Nagisa had three missions: Talk to Principal Akino, talk to Narayama, and potentially figure out what the Banno house party incident was and how to resolve any issues it created. The moment he walked into class, he was ambushed by all twelve teenagers waving notebooks as weapons. He quickly ducked back outside the door, and his students did not pursue- they knew that the assassination was for the classroom only. They just stood outside the door like seagulls waiting for a beach-goer to drop their food. Nagisa went outside and climbed the tree to enter the window of the classroom. And with that, Class 3-5 just seemed to give up for the day.

The petite teacher made his way to the Principal's office at lunchtime, leaving the students to their own devices (against his better judgment). He knocked on the open to grab his boss's attention. "Principal Akino?"

He turned his brown eyes to Nagisa. It really did remind him of speaking to Principal Asano. "Yes? How is your class doing?"

"Um, well..." Nagisa felt intimidated for a minute, but then reminded himself he was part of a class who took down the world's most prolific assassin. "We were thinking, since we missed out on the opportunity you gave us, we considered doing a fundraiser to raise money for repairs."

Akino was clearly intrigued. "Doing what?"

"Selling art that they made in the past few years."

Akino narrowed his eyes. He placed his hand on a snow globe on his desk, and shook it. The 'snow' fluttered around. "Hmm... Well, the art made by students technically does not belong to the school, so as long as you can get them from Narayama, I'm powerless to say no. And for that matter, I'm okay with you using whatever money you and your students have to do what you want to the room."

Nagisa breathed a sigh of relief. His blue hair settled.

"That being said, you can only do fundraisers on school grounds with my express permission." He spun around 360 degrees on his swivel chair. "And I don't permit."

Nagisa almost gasped. He stood there, internally debating what to say. "Then, what-"

"I will not give you permission to collect money _on school grounds_ for this purpose." The principal grinned a bit.

An idea came to the student teacher, unbidden. _On school property. He can't stop me if I sell it down the street, or even five feet outside the property line..._ Nagisa felt a grin forming on his face as well.

* * *

The next step was to convince Narayama to give up the students' old paintings. Nagisa didn't know what to expect. He had never met the guy, even though he'd met pretty much all the staff in this high school. And when he asked his class for their opinions of him, the only answer he got was "weird". With a dramatic sigh, he walked to the art room after school. He managed to get there before Narayama locked it up, and was greeted with a middle-aged face that reflected almost anger that he was bothered at this time of day.

"Hello?" Nagisa bowed. "Nagisa Shiota. I'm new here. I teach Class 3-5-"

"You poor summer child." Narayama replied dryly.

"Er, thanks. Anyways, my class was wondering if they could have back all the paintings that they've done over the years. We want to put them in an exhibition of sorts. Since they're not allowed in the upcoming art show and all." Nagisa stretched the truth, since he wasn't sure how this guy would react. "And we already got the okay from Principal Akino."

Narayama thought for a moment. Nagisa noticed that he was limping a bit, and there was a scar on his left cheek and he walked with a slight limp. "Fine. They're all in the storage room. Back left corner. Here are the keys." He shoved them in Nagisa's hands, then walked off towards the front of the school.

As Nagisa walked towards the storage room, Narayama's voice caught his attention. He sounded like he was back in his room- and Nagisa knew that other voice. _Nakagawa._ Deciding once again to eavesdrop, he pressed his ear against the wall.

"After everything you've done, you have the nerve to show up here again?" Narayama's raspy voice sneered.

"Dude, nothing personal. You were collateral damage."

"I'm not accepting that as an excuse. Bastard."

"I've come to... Make amends, in a way." Of course, Nakagawa's voice was as smooth as honey.

"Wh-what?" Nagisa wished he could see what was happening in the art room. He looked around for a hole in the wall, but there seemed to be none.

"If you say nothing at all, all this can be yours. And I have connections. I can get you whatever you want."

There was dead silence for about thirty seconds, then the sound of shoes hitting the floor. Nagisa shifted to a place where he wouldn't be seen by either party.

The footsteps stopped abruptly. "Hey, it's weird that Haruna Mase hasn't been doing anything recently, am I right? She's 'on hiatus'." Nagisa felt his heart stop at the English teacher's words.

"S-something about medical leave."

"But for what? She's twenty-one. What could she possibly have..." Nakagawa's footsteps continued and echoed down the hall.

Nagisa panicked, stuck the key in his pocket, made a mental note to bring the students to the storage room tomorrow to get their art, and took the long route home.

* * *

Now it was time to initiate phase three of this week. Uncovering "the incident". Nagisa thought his best bet for an inside source would be either Kasegawa or Toshima, both of whom had opened up to him in the past. He assigned Kasegawa cleaning duty on Wednesday. He also started a countdown til finals. The board read _June 21st. Thirty days til midterms._

"So, Kasegawa?" The short teacher turned toward the delinquent.

"Hmm?" She didn't turn from the desk she was cleaning.

He tried to tread lightly, but decided to abandon caution. "I heard about an incident at a party thrown by Banno."

"You're not getting it out of me." She brushed the two chalkboard erasers together, sending white dust floating everywhere in a cloud. "Go home to your knocked up girlfriend." She left without looking back, careful to take her key with her.

Nagisa was left coughing in the classroom. _She has a point. Maybe this is really none of my business._

* * *

Nagisa arrived home earlier than usual that day. After stopping at the bakery to pick up half a dozen cinnamon rolls (Akari had texted him requesting that her cravings be satisfied), he entered the flat and slipped his shoes off. He took a glance at the altar, where incense was burning for Koro-sensei and Aguri. He had been praying to them a lot recently. It might be time to visit their resting place...

"Hey Akari?"

"Nagisa!" She ran to the door and hugged him. "What is it you need?"

"I just had an idea. What do you think about going up to the old 3-E building?"

The old 3-E building was not run down at all, like one might expect of a school that hasn't been occupied for seven years. Instead, it was quite well maintained thanks to the E Class alumni who frequently visited and did housekeeping. The summer heat had already built up in it. "Tadaima," Nagisa announced, entering the building. Akari followed, careful to watch her step. She pulled out a paper fan.

Nagisa got started sweeping the floor, but there was no dirt to be found. He tried dusting, but there was no dust either. It really did seem like their two teachers still lived here. Unsure of what else to do, he sat down in his old desk. He even still fit in it. Frown.

Nagisa shut his eyes and meditated. Knowing Koro-sensei was here, and that he knew the answer to the predicament with his students.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello once again. This chapter is mostly about the Former E Class students, but the focus will return to Nagisa's students in the next installment.**

 **Also that oneshot about Nakamura is going to be delayed by a few days. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I go back to college soon and everyone wanted to see me this weekend. Hence why this chapter is a bit shorter than usual.**

 **And if you have not yet checked it out, I'd like to shamelessly promote the Koro-sensei themed oneshot I published two days ago,** ** _Hello Shooting Star, Again_** **.**

 **AN: Line is a Korean group messaging app. From what I gather, it's kind of like GroupMe. E Class is shown using it when they all conspire to infiltrate the anti-tentacle barrier and see Koro-sensei in the last arc. It'll come up in my stories.**

* * *

"So you came too." Isogai's voice registered in Nagisa's and Akari's ears.

The couple looked up. "What brings you he-" Nagisa was about to ask, then saw that the old class rep was accompanied by Kataoka, Okano, Maehara, Takebayashi, Kurahashi, Kanzaki... Even Karma and Okuda found time out of their busy schedules to be here!

"Was there a post in the groupchat that we missed?" Akari sat up in her old seat (she still fit in it too, albeit it was a bit more snug).

"No... I just woke up this morning with the urge to come here." Chiba said, this time loudly enough for the room to hear. Almost instinctively, each classmate went to their assigned seat and sat down.

"Something was pulling me here, like the narrator of a manga or something." Fuwa dusted off her seat.

"I had a dream in which we were all students here again, and when I woke up it was the only thing on my mind." Kimura was not dressed in a police officer's uniform, presumably he was off duty today.

"But for us to have all arrived at the same time... It's beyond pure coincidence." Isogai breathed, assuming his seat. "It almost like his soul was speaking to us all."

"Well, I certainly did feel like Koro-sensei was going to speak to me today." Nagisa's girlish voice rose out from the crowd.

"About what?"

"I wanted advice for an issue with my students."

"Babysitting seventeen year-olds is busting your ass already?" Karma laughed. Nagisa swore he could see devil horns on his red-haired friend.

"Shut up Karma."

The former assassins moved outside to sit on the grass, as the rainy season was finally over.

"So, what's everyone been up to?" Kataoka put down a few picnic blankets for everyone to sit on. She found them in the closet, as undisturbed as they were on the day they were sent to E Class.

"Karma had to help me break into my apartment yesterday." Isogai laughed nervously.

"Yuuma, what did I tell you? You need to remember to bring your keys everywhere." Kataoka scolded him playfully.

"Did you all see the pictures I posted of my new cat on Line?" Okuda beamed. Everyone nodded. "Then, my news is that you all have to meet my boyfriend, he's such a dream..."

Karma shuffled in his seat. "I have to admit, he's a really great and interesting guy. Even I get along really well with him, and I don't get along with _anybody_."

Nagisa understood that there was no animosity there, and that his old friend meant everything that he said. "You'll still swoop in if they break up?" Okajima asked.

"Don't be creepy. I'm not one of those." Karma scoffed. Nagisa knew it was selfish to think, but he hoped that Karma and Okuda would still end up together.

Everyone had positive updates that day. Kurahashi had decided to go to Veterinary school. Maehara was living with a girl (just one girl- improvements!). Kanzaki had gotten into the habit of working all-night shifts at the retirement home.

"That's all wonderful to hear, but none of it answers the question of why we're all here." Nagisa sighed. Akari walked over and sat right beside him. She gave him that look he was all too familiar with. He nodded. It was time for them to know.

"We have something to say ourselves." Nagisa stood up, holding Akari's hand. "You saw the post in the group chat about us living together?"

"Yeah, are you dating?" A few voices spoke up.

"Yeah, we figured you'd infer that. And there's something else," Nagisa ran his free hand through Akari's hair.

"We're pregnant." Akari did the talking this time.

Within milliseconds, the new parents were swarmed with their old friends.

Hara put her hand on Akari's forehead to check for a temperature. "Are you okay? Do you need anything right now-"

The standard questions were asked. 'How long have you known?', 'When?', 'Boy or girl?'. They were answered succinctly.

"We find out the gender on Nagisa's birthday." Akari now held her female friends' hands. "We'll post blue or pink in the Line chat."

"I want boy-girl twins." Karma began to fold his blanket.

"We did too, but according to the ultrasound technician it's just one baby."

Soon everyone left. Nagisa was still left wondering why all of former E class had the desire to come back to the classroom on this exact day. And if all the students, then why not Karasuma and Bitch-sensei? _Was today the anniversary of something..._

And then he heard a voice whispering to him. Koro-sensei's. He thought back to the 'incident' he had not yet figured out.

 _You'll find out soon enough..._

* * *

Nagisa and Akari walked home together. It was just beginning to get dark. The heat still hung in the air, the cicadas were buzzing.

"That actually went pretty well," Akari giggled. "Hey, speaking of your birthday, what do you want?"

"You're _carrying my child._ I don't need a birthday gift from you." Nagisa held her hand.

"But I want to do something for you. It's two days before summer break, we could go somewhere. How about Tokyo Disneyland? I haven't been there in a while, and I know you've never been."

"How many rides can you go on, though? You'll be four months along."

"I'll sit them out and eat ice cream or something."

"That wouldn't be right. How about we just rent a beach house for a week or something? There are plenty of baby-friendly activities."

His girlfriend smiled. "That sounds great. I'll start looking for a place tonight. Don't offer me money, this is my gift to you!"

* * *

Monday came again. _It's time to start preparing for finals_ , Nagisa thought to himself.

He wrote on the board. _June 26_ _th_ _, twenty-five days 'til finals._ He cleared his throat. "Class,"

Everyone looked up.

"Your grades have improved significantly. And for that, I'm proud of you. I think you're all well prepared for the upcoming finals."

Toshima raised his hand. "Uh, we're all flattered you think that," Nagisa heard Kagato snort. Toshima threw him a dirty look. "Though some of us may not say it. But what are we going to do about the principal's ultimatum?"

"I didn't tell you last week because I didn't want to distract you from the big test I assigned on Friday," He had graded it; everyone got grades above a seventy-five. "But I got the principal's approval for the fundraiser." Every face in front of him smiled. "And I have the key from Narayama. Everything's in the storage room. How about we go there during lunch and get our paintings?"

Everyone cheered. All but one. Aida. Instead, he had an expression of panic and fear. He looked around the room frantically, as if to try to find someone on his side. Tsukuda did not notice his best friend's reaction, so Aida accidentally made eye contact with Nagisa.

 _What is he hiding? Does everyone leave their dirty laundry in that damned storage room!?_ Nagisa felt himself getting a headache. He wasn't looking forward to class ending today. He dreaded what he would find in that room.


	15. Chapter 15

**Welcome to chapter 15! My plan was to post my oneshot about Rio today or tomorrow, but it's still being revised and having stuff added to it. Also brief note about that, it's concurrent with this story, and will take place over many years, and thus will spoil some minor details about GTN, like the gender and birthdate of Nagisa and Akari's baby. No major plot twists will be revealed, so you can read it without fear of prematurely finding out what's happening with Shibata and Nakagawa, or what else goes on in the storage room.**

* * *

The end of the morning came eventually. Nagisa's class shuffled out of their seats and all made a beeline to the storage room.

Nagisa uncharacteristically trailed behind. He was sure he'd find his students' secrets in that room. _Maybe I should be looking forward to that. I'm their teacher, after all, it's my job to help them in any way I can-_

His train of thought derailed as he bumped right into Aida. "Hey asshole! Get out of my way!" The troubled teen turned around to shove him. Nagisa dodged it.

"If you want to get technical, _you're_ in _my_ way." The blue-haired teacher smiled, sending shivers down Aida's spine.

 _Why are you still scared of me? I'm your teacher!_ Nagisa thought in frustration, then headed to bypass the rest of the students and unlock the door.

The door gave way with a _click_. Nagisa had never really been in the storage room before, he'd only seen glimpses of it when the door was ajar. Even when he needed the step ladder months ago he did not get around to coming here, Izumoto placed the books on the shelf for him. Wow, it was at least well used for its purpose if nothing else. Tattered dust covers lay on the floor, which looked like it hadn't been swept in years. The bookshelves were stuffed with jars full of pencils, pens, paintbrushes, and rulers (he took a few of the last item). The step ladders he would have appreciated months ago were stacked in the corner. Even the curtains were drawn to prevent light from coming in. He wasn't sure if any of his pupils could find their art in this mess-

"Found some of mine." Kasegawa deadpanned. She was joined by Tsukuda, Azuki, Takemura, and Kagato. Huh. So Nagisa was wrong.

But his eyes subtly followed a certain student. Aida ducked into the corner, picking up binders and books that littered the floor. He then got down on his knees and touched the floor.

Nagisa approached him. "Need help?"

Aida panicked. "No! Why are you following around me today?"

"I'm not. It's just that everyone but you is finding their art. Do you need help?"

Aida looked around. "No. I just remembered it's right here." He got up and walked to the other side of the room. Pulling the dust cover up, some very impressive paintings of the Tokyo skyline were revealed.

"You're quite talented." Nagisa tried to calm him down.

"It's nice of you to say that." The flustered student didn't even look at him.

"Alright, if everyone has their work, let's get back to the classroom." Nagisa announced. He slipped the key into his pocket and left it there all day, careful to assure that no one swiped it.

* * *

After school let out that day, Nagisa headed back to the storage room. Not necessarily to investigate whatever Aida was hiding, but more because he needed a few extra rulers anyway. He hoped this wouldn't become a habit, that room was a disaster area.

The room was, again, dark and messy. Nagisa sneezed a few times. The light switch was, predictably, too high up for him to reach. So he scrambled around, trying to remember where the rulers were kept.

Nagisa ended up in the back corner, checking some plastic bins and cardboard boxes. That is, until he tripped and fell flat on his rear end. _I should have been more careful_ , Nagisa rubbed his leg. In spite of the dark, he noticed that the ground there was uneven. He kicked it. One of the floorboards there jutted slightly upwards. Nagisa came to a sick realization: This was where Aida was hovering and getting defensive over earlier that day.

Acting on instinct (He was a teenager once too, after all), he pulled the floorboard up. _I'll deal with getting in trouble for damaging school property later,_ he thought... Then the board just lifted. Barely any force was needed. It had already taken plenty of this.

Nagisa finally thought to use his phone as a flashlight. He saw that there was a narrow cavity beneath the floor, and Nagisa could see the reflection of the light off of liquid. It was a bottle. Nagisa lifted it up and examined it. Vodka. There was another beneath it, Gin, and a bottle of whiskey at the bottom.

For the first time since beginning his employment at Paradise High, Nagisa felt anger towards one of his students. It started as a faint tickle at his heart, then gradually built up until he felt the familiar bloodlust resurface. His students, with great regularity, tried to stab him with pencils, pens, compasses. No anger there. They threatened to kill him. He could understand. They threw every object within arm's reach at him, tried to trip him, and tried to push him out of the second story window. He laughed it all off and went right on with the lesson. But bringing dangerous and illegal substances to a learning environment? This was something he could not overlook.

Nagisa knew who to call about this.

* * *

Kawaguchi was in the storage room five minutes later. He flipped the light. "Nagisa. Calm your breathing before we talk about anything, okay?" He patted the younger teacher's back.

When Nagisa had calmed down, they both took a seat on the floor. "Now. You're certainly a very capable young man, so what happened that..." He was cut off when Nagisa pointed to the three liquor bottles. "Those were under the floorboards. And I know who put them there. Just... What should I do? How should I confront him?"

"I know who this was too. You're suspecting Aida, right?" Nagisa nodded. "He's got a history of issues with substances. He's been suspended a couple of times for this and stuff like it. Smoking in the bathrooms, you know."

"Yeah. I figured. But what do I _do_? It's generally not my policy to immediately report violations like this to the disciplinary committee."

"I agree with that philosophy, especially in this case. Aida has no strong authority figures in his life. He'll respect you if try to reason with him rather than asserting that you must be right because you're a teacher. He wants to know that his feelings are valid. That's all some of these kids want."

Nagisa let out a long breath. "You're right." _That's what Koro-sensei would have done._

Kawaguchi motioned to the bottles. "That being said, there's still the question of what to do with all this... My vote is we take them and have a good time." He laughed, indicating that he was joking. "But seriously. We need to confiscate them, then we can go to the bar. We haven't been there in a while."

Nagisa tried to stuff the bottles into his bag, but found that they did not fit. "Sorry. Since I found out my girlfriend is pregnant, I haven't been drinking either."

Kawaguchi's face lit right up. "Ah. Hearing that brings me back to my kids. I hope it goes better for you than it did for me..."

* * *

"Hey Nagisa! I found a place for us to stay!" Akari's voice pierced through Nagisa's thoughts. He rushed over to his pregnant lover.

"Well, where is it?" He rubbed her slight bump. She placed her hands on top of his. Thirteen weeks along. Three weeks 'til the baby starts to kick, then a couple of days after that they would find out the gender... He leaned in to kiss Akari. "I can't wait." He whispered.

"For the vacation?"

"I was talking about you-know-who's arrival, but that too." He chuckled. "Anyway, where did you discover?"

"There's this nice beach in Kanagawa not too far from here." She showed him pictures. "It's a lesser known beach so there's still plenty of houses left to rent." It looked like a tropical paradise. "What do you think?"

"It looks perfect."

* * *

The next day, Nagisa decided to just bite the bullet and talk to Aida. He noticed the boy absolutely freaking out the entire morning, refusing to sit still and having no answers for the questions asked in class. He pulled him aside during lunch and talked to him under the stairwell, after assuring that no one was around to hear them. No one used the south stairwell anyway.

"I know you did it, teach." Aida opened the conversation.

"If you're talking about the alcohol you kept in the storage room, then yes, I did indeed confiscate it." Nagisa held his head up. "You don't need to be drinking, yet alone at school. What gave you the desire to do that?"

Aida tried to push his sensei against the wall, but Nagisa broke out of his grip. "My life sucks, booze makes it more interesting. This principle also applies to school, as I have learned." Nagisa tried the clap-stunner on him, causing him to freeze in place. Nagisa motioned him to sit down on the stairs, which he did.

"Yes, alcohol does make you feel like you can take on your life's struggles more proficiently. That's the reason lots of people drink it." Nagisa noticed that even while his student was slouched over, he was still dwarfed by a teenager. "But tell me, what actually _happens_ when you drink?"

The seventeen year-old stared off into space. "I fail tests, get in fights with my family, and there was that time I thought it would be a good idea to invite a 'friend' to Banno's house party and he ended up drunkenly starting a fire in the living room and running off with the money Banno collected from the party-goers."

Well, there it was. This must be 'the incident.' Koro-sensei was right, he did find out soon. "See, it causes nothing but conflict. Have you and Banno been the same ever since?"

"He still doesn't know it was me who invited the dude." Aida chuckled, finally seeing the humor in the situation. "And I'm not telling him now, so don't even ask."

"I grade your work everyday. You are not stupid, yet you've done all these frankly stupid things while drinking. Why do you continue to do it?" Sunlight was coming in through the window, sending shadows of them across the floor.

"Simple. It feels good."

"A lot of things 'feel good' and are therapeutic, but most of them don't cause the issues that alcohol does. Ever tried gardening?" Aida stared. Nagisa carried on. "You're too young to be drinking at all, yet alone using it as a coping mechanism. I won't invade your privacy any more by asking why your life sucks so badly, but I will give you this." He handed his student a business card, one for a teen therapist in the area who specializes with substance abuse. "Just in case you find it hard to stop."

They both got up to go back to the room. "And one more thing, I'm going to recommend that you tell your friends the truth about that night. But I'm leaving that part up to you."

* * *

The next week flew by. Nagisa began preparing his class for finals. He swore he would impress Principal Akino again, but not to gain something this time. 3-5 got ready for their fundraiser and even had a day picked out. Everyone's grades had risen by at least twenty-five percent.

Nagisa wrote the day on the board. _July 7th. Fourteen days 'til finals._ Then something dawned on him.

The art show was that afternoon.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello all. Unfortunately, as of now I can no longer continue the schedule I've had of updating this story every 3-4 days. In about 8 hours I'll be back at college, and I had to overload my schedule this semester, so I forsee me posting a new chapter every 7-10 days. In early October and mid December it might be even less often than that because that's midterms and finals, respectively. I also will be going to Japan next semester (if I get accepted into the program), so I will try to wrap this fic up before the New Year.**

 **I didn't plan on revealing the gender of Nagikae's baby just yet… But I guess it's a celebration of this fic getting 55 favorites and 80 follows. (Thank you all, I nearly cried in joy.)**

* * *

Yes, the art show. That was today. Nagisa felt a sick feeling of apprehension.

"Hey," He turned to address his class. "The art show is today, right?"

"Yeah," Azuki answered. "Are you gonna make it a requirement to go?"

"No, but does anyone plan on going?"

Voices rattled off around the room. "No."

"No."

"No."

"I would, but I still want to spite the art club president." Hamada stared out the window.

Nagisa took a mental note to speak to him about conflict resolution. He also decided it would be a good idea to go to the art show to see what he was dealing with. He also still had to return those keys back to Narayama.

After school, Nagisa went to the gymnasium where the art was in an exhibition. And wow, the kids from the 'better' classes were indeed pretty talented- but they didn't seem any more talented than his students. Some of the drawings and paintings here were not as good as the ones he saw from his students. He laid eyes on Narayama, who seemed a bit less crotchety today now that he was doing what he loved. Nagisa approached him and handed him his keys.

He accepted them rather happily. "Thanks. A lot of people here wouldn't have bothered returning them. You're a great guy." Nagisa blushed. This guy was _praising him_?

"Uhh, thank you." Nagisa walked away and left for home, seeing that his class's competition for attention was manageable and that his fears were unfounded. What Narayama said after that barely registered in Nagisa's ears.

"Unlike some people…"

* * *

The following Monday, Nagisa exited the classroom after another day of preparing his beloved class for finals. He walked by the storage room (Seriously, what was it with that damned place?) when once again a voice pierced through his train of thought about absolutely nothing. And again, it was a voice he recognized.

"I know, mom, I know!" It was Kasegawa. She was trying to keep as quiet as possible. "I know this is why I go to public school… Yes, yes, I understand we won't make rent this month… How dare you imply that about me!" Her voice began to tremble, and get louder. "You don't even know me! It isn't my fault you piss away all your money from your fucking part-time job on booze, guys who bounce after one date, and get rich quick schemes! I am done with you! Good! Bye!" she audibly hung up the phone and let out an annoyed moan. She headed straight out the door and bumped right into Nagisa.

"Ugh! Fucking you again!" She stared him in the eye. "Why are you so damn nosy? What part of that did you hear?"

"Everything from 'public school' until now. And I'm nosy because it's my responsibility to ascertain the health and safety of each of my students. That's what teachers do." She blushed. "But honestly, I wasn't spying on you. I just happened to walk by when you said that."

She let out a sigh that shook her whole body. "Just… There's nothing you can do. Understand that. Okay?" And she walked off at a quick speed before Nagisa could give chase.

The next day, Kasegawa came into school in the morning with a bruise covering her right cheek. A poor attempt to conceal it with makeup was obvious. Every conversation and activity in the room stopped the moment she walked in with that. Her classmates payed extra attention to her that day, all making it a point to talk to her during lunch and even offering her some of their food. She refused everything. Eventually she left to use the bathroom during one of their breaks. Nagisa could stand the mystery no longer. "Please tell me class. What is going on with Kasegawa this week?"

Kagato spoke first. "Kotori's mom is a total failure."

"They fight all the time, but it's really bad around the time the rent is due." Hamada continued.

"Which is today." Banno finished.

"And evidently it got physical." The young teacher concluded. "Should I call the authorities-"

"Don't bother. We've done that multiple times and nothing ever comes of it. Her mom doesn't even have custody of her, she lost it a long-ass time ago. Kotori's grandma has custody; the mom just lives with them." Tsukuda explained.

Nagisa thought back to when he was having issues with his mom all those years ago. Koro-sensei did talk to her, but that was only because she directly confronted him. And he gave Nagisa advice on how to handle his parents... _Hmm... what should I do?_

* * *

July 14th was now here. The day of the art sale fundraiser. They had set up shop the moment classes got out on the street right in front of the school building. Nagisa watched with pride as his students set up the tables and placed their art on them. About once or twice other school staff came by to ask if he had permission to do this, and Nagisa cleverly pointed out that he was not technically on school property and therefore was not bound by school rules and regulations.

Nagisa saw a lot of faces from the student body that he did not interact with, but they only seemed to give 3-5's tables a passing nod and moved on, sometimes with a disgusted look in their eyes. A few did stop and at least window shop, though. But almost everyone who bought the art were passerby on the streets.

Nagisa recalled with thankfulness that Toshima had thought ahead and even suggested that they make copies of their art and sell those so that more than one of each could be sold, and the creator could keep the original. And even though they made copies the art was quickly selling out. Takemura's painting of a ladybug was so popular he ended up taking orders for it. The art was almost all sold out when some familiar-looking faces dropped by. It turns out, they were the relatives of 3-5 students. Toshima's sister was there, and Banno's three siblings. Akari came (in her disguise, of course) and Nagisa showed her off to his students, who were impressed that their girly, short, underdeveloped teacher was dating such a beautiful woman. But one customer was particularly notable.

She walked in, and it was obvious by her face who she was. Kasegawa's grandmother. If her appearance didn't make it clear enough, her granddaughter ran up and hugged her and the rest of the students were extremely nice to her (they had been polite to all their customers, but she got the special treatment).

When she went to make her purchase, she looked at Akari first, focusing on her belly. "Yes. I remember what it's like the first time. Such a new experience." She pulled out her money. Nagisa was about to ask her about Kasegawa's living conditions, but she regarded him first. "I know what you're going to say. Kotori's not living in a safe place. And I've been doing all I can. I live with them. I have custody of her, so she's pretty much my responsibility. I make all the meals while her mother is out looking for a party to hit up. At her age! I clean the house. I intervene when things get violent. I've tried to get her mother evicted but that hasn't happened yet." She slid over the yen while Nagisa took in what she just said. "But, I've come here for another reason. You're the teacher who improved Kotori's grades in such a short amount of time. I hear about 'Shiota-sensei' all the time at home. So I just want to thank you for the influence you've been on her."

Nagisa felt pride growing in his chest. It started as a little tickle, but soon took his breath away with the knowledge of the difference he was making in his students' lives.

* * *

Nagisa glanced at his phone. July 20th 2023. His twenty-third birthday. His mind was not on that, however, in fact it barely crossed his mind all day. He had spent the whole day at work excited for the ultrasound later that day. The moment had finally come, Akari and he were sitting in the clinic, Akari lying on the table being prodded and poked by the technician's tools.

The technician carefully studied the image of Nagisa and Akari's baby on the screen. It moved around and kicked. Nagisa felt his heart flutter.

"Congratulations, you're having a girl."

Nagisa caught his breath. A daughter. He unconsciously smiled. "You're sure?"

"Definitely." The professional replied. Nagisa caught Akari's eye, and her face matched his with joy.

When the couple returned home, they finally felt free to speak. Nagisa embraced her. "A girl." He kissed the top of Akari's head. "That's… Perfect. She's going to be a Daddy's girl. I'm going to spoil her rotten."

"I'm sure of that." Akari smiled. "We need to start thinking about names. She'll be here before we know it."

Nagisa got to work posting an enormous amount of pink pictures in the 3-E group chat, and sending them to everyone who knew about the baby. With a bit of reservation, he even decided to tell his mother.

"By the way, since we leave Saturday, try to get your stuff together by the end of tonight." Akari snuck up behind him and stole a kiss.

Nagisa woke up the next morning to a screen full of texts/group chat posts about his discovery about having a daughter. All happy and celebratory. One text from his mother made him cringe a bit inside.

 **Oh my goodness. I'll be by at around seven p.m.**

Nagisa told Akari and they both braced themselves, and thought about how they should speak to her after the way she treated them the last time.

* * *

It was now the day that Nagisa once again stood in his classroom, alone, imagining his students in the makeshift test room, focusing on their exams and clutching number two pencils. Nagisa had confidence in them. They had spent many weeks studying for this and he knew that they were ready to handle it.

He wasn't alone for long, as he was soon joined by Kawaguchi. The two of them chatted about their students and about their lives and plans for the break. Outside, a warm breeze was blowing and birds nested in the trees. It was a beautiful sight, just like Nagisa's life.


	17. Chapter 17

***Emerges from a pile of dust and rubble* I have returned! This chapter is about the summer break and thus is mostly Nagikae fluff. The next chapter will return to our regularly scheduled program of students' and teachers' drama and some unexpected character development for a certain someone. Read and review, please!**

* * *

True to her word, Nagisa's mom was over at 7 p.m. that day. She came bearing many gifts. Lots of pink frilly baby stuff. Nagisa figured that this was stuff she had gotten when she was pregnant with him, and kept in the hope that she might have a female descendant. She was giggling the whole time.

"A granddaughter," She squealed. "I've been waiting so long." She wrapped her arms around her only child. "Thank you Nagi-chan." She then got on her knees to rub Akari's belly.

Nagisa and Akari awkwardly sat there, tolerating his mother's sudden affection. Meanwhile, Nagisa's dad and Satoshi were on the balcony sharing a cigarette. The two grandfathers at least seemed to get along.

Hiromi went on. "I can't wait to be a grandma. I'm going to spoil her rotten and then hand her back to you." She removed baby clothes from the boxes she brought.

Nagisa and Akari were looking for words to say. Despite having all day to think about this inevitability, they had not decided on what to say to her. "Mom..." Nagisa summoned his courage. His mother picked up on his emotions.

"That's the other thing..." Hiromi got on her knees again and went to the 'asking forgiveness' pose. "I'm sorry about the way I behaved the last time I was here. It wasn't right of me, and I want to take it back."

Nagisa recalled what Akari had said about her father. _I'm still kind of mad at him, but I care about him, and I want him in my life again. Families are... Nuanced like that._ He silently agreed. "I forgive you."

Akari didn't even need to catch his eye to know that he was going to say that. And she thought it was the best thing too. After all, her daughter deserved a grandma. "I forgive you too."

* * *

The next morning soon came, and the car was already packed for the two hour drive. Both had learned to drive just because it was a useful skill to have, and Akari had bought this car for trips like this. It had proven to be useful.

Nagisa drove the car through infuriating rush hour traffic, while Akari rested her hands on her growing belly. "She's sleeping."

"Hmm?" Nagisa distracted himself from the directions the maps app gave him (sometimes he wished Ritsu had that particular function).

"Our daughter. She's sleeping." Akari sighed happily. "Now that the morning sickness is starting to go away, I'm getting used to this. You know, I feel like a housewife."

Her boyfriend was puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I wake up with you every morning, we eat breakfast, then I go back to sleep after you leave. Then I get up, clean the apartment and when you get home I greet you at the door with a kiss and a home-cooked meal. All that's missing is the baby, and she's on the way." She giggled. "I really like it. I think when I retire from acting, I want to do that."

Nagisa did not expect to hear that from her. "That sounds delightful." He loved coming home to see her face at the door everyday. "But are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure. But that won't be for a while yet. I'll probably retire in like ten or fifteen years. We could finally be public about our relationship... We could even get married." Nagisa noticed that she was wearing the pearl necklace he gave her again, though she was not fidgeting with it. "We can have a couple more kids and live a quiet life."

Nagisa didn't even think before answering, the words just came out naturally. "...Yeah. I like that."

* * *

The beach that day was hot and sunny. Once the couple checked into their beach house, they went to the plopped down on the bed to lay in each other's arms and cuddle. Akari soon got up to look for the pamphlets that were usually left here by the landlords about what there was to do and eat in town.

While she was up, Nagisa got a bit bored and decided to check up on his students. He obviously wasn't allowed in their group chats, and he couldn't add them on any social media. But curiosity got the best of him, and he thought to check their profiles on various websites.

Kagato was in the background of some photos taken at a party. This might be Banno's party but it was unclear. It seemed like Kasegawa's bruise from her mother had cleared up (or she had gotten really good at using makeup to hide it). Aida's and Shisaki's profiles were set to private, but they were very secretive so that was to be expected. No one was posting about the difficulty level of the exams, or plans for the vacation. Figuring he'd be updated on their goings ons after the break, he went to join Akari.

They went out to dinner that day, and the night ended with a romantic moonlight walk on the beach. Nagisa could have sworn he saw a constellation that looked like Koro-sensei. Surprisingly, he felt no anxiety at all about the exam scores for his class. They would be delivered to his room the day they went back to school, and it's vacation time before then.

The next day was like it, weather-wise, and the pair spent it shopping and basking in each other's company. Nagisa once went to the bathroom to come back to find Akari, with her hair up to avoid attention, with a massive bowl of green tea ice cream (her cravings had not yet subsided) and another bowl of red bean ice cream just for him. They went to the beach the day after that, and the aquarium the day after that. It felt like when they first moved in together. Just a paradise with your lover.

The sun set on another beautiful day on the beaches of Kanagawa. Akari stood on the balcony of the beach house, staring at the ocean and rubbing her bump. "We need to start thinking about a name."

Nagisa walked over to join her. The balcony was bathed in moonlight. It really was a romantic night. "I agree." He put his hands on her bump too.

Akari looked up at the much smaller moon. "I was thinking I like Fujiko or Hotaru..."

Nagisa stole a kiss from her. An idea hit him. "Let's name her Kaede."

Akari stared with what was for once an unreadable expression. Then a smile slowly crossed her lips. "Yes. Kaede. She'll be our little princess."

As if she were listening to her parents, Kaede kicked and moved around. They immediately fell to their knees and fussed over her.

* * *

 **I had considered the possibility of naming Nagisa and Kayano/Akari's daughter Aguri in honor of Akari's sister, but I had decided against it because 1) I'm pretty sure naming kids after people, especially dead people, isn't really a thing in contemporary Japanese society (I could be wrong about this, but I've seriously never heard of it happening) -and- 2) According to what I've been told, that name is written as 'last daughter' and is a name parents give their daughters if they were hoping for a boy instead. So it has negative connotations.**


	18. Chapter 18

**I am once again shamelessly self promoting here, but I recently published a fic about Nagisa and Gakushuu, Fake Smiles. It was initially gonna be a oneshot but after I saw everyone in the reviews expected more, I realized that it totally has more potential, so I've decided to make it multi-chapter. The second chapter of that should be out soon.**

 **Also I swear the oneshot about Rio is coming, it's just that everytime I look at what I've written for it it seems like it needs more. Also, between the twenty page research paper I just got assigned for my major (never study political science kids), applying for the study abroad program, this fic, and Fake Smiles, that oneshot is sort of lowest priority right now. I can't give an ETA, all I can say is it'll be here when it's done. Sorry for the extreme delay.**

 **Response to EvergreenMoth8: Yes, the implication is that Nagisa and Akari have indeed been having sex without a barrier (sorry if that was never made explicitly clear). As for contracting STDs/STIs, I was imaging that both were virgins before this, so that's not an issue.**

* * *

So the rest of the month of August passed slowly before school started again. It was even hotter than usual. Nagisa and Akari found that they couldn't sleep without the AC on full blast and even then they awoke covered in sweat. It was another break that they spent together, falling asleep and waking up whenever they felt like it and doing whatever pleased them.

On this particular day, Nagisa went out on a grocery shopping excursion, leaving Akari home to sleep off the fatigue the pregnancy was still causing her. When the blue-haired man ascended the stairs leading to the flat he shared with Akari, he thought to call Karma. He entered the flat, slipped off his shoes, said "Tadaima", greeted his expectant lover, and got down to contacting their old friend.

"Hello, Karma?" Nagisa said into the phone. Karma did not answer, there seemed to be some kind of fumbling on the line. "Um, Karma?"

"Yeah, sorry Nagisa. Actually, can we come over?"

"Did I call at a bad time? And who's we?" Nagisa put the phone on speaker. Akari crawled over and plopped down on the couch, eating a mango.

"Um... Okuda and I." Karma for once in his twenty-two year life sounded shy. Not to mention nervous.

Nagisa looked over to Akari, who nodded enthusiastically and chirped into the phone. "Yeah, come over! I'm making dinner! Fettuccine Alfredo with a side of fried rice!"

"... Why?" Karma sweatdropped.

"Because that's what the baby and I want."

Karma and Okuda were over in less than ten minutes. Or rather, Karma was.

"Where's Okuda?" Nagisa ducked out of the kitchen.

Karma took his shoes off, careful to watch the door behind him. "She was right behind me!"

Less than five seconds later, the doorbell rang.

Okuda flew in once the door opened. She fell into Karma's arms. Then came the sobbing.

The red-haired man patted his old friend on the head. "Now now, Manami. It'll be fine. You and him just didn't work out, and that's okay too."

They soon all ended up on the couch, Okuda explaining her predicament and blowing her nose every ten words. "Kaname left."

"Huh?" Akari scrambled to get a box of tissues.

"My boyfriend. He just calls me up one night..." Another sniffle. "... Says he wants to see me, and I go to his place and he's all like 'Manami I can't do this anymore'."

Nagisa and Akari got started on making a batch of cookies for the brokenhearted girl. "It's okay Okuda. You can cry all you want. These things aren't easy."

It was a weekend, so the four friends spent the night in watching silly movies and baking treats. When the night was over, the bespectacled girl's tears were no longer flowing.

"I'm still young. I'll find someone better suited to me. And if not, I'll always have science!"

As Karma and Okuda were headed out the door, Nagisa was the only one who noticed a whisper from the scientist.

"I've got someone in mind anyways..."

* * *

School was back in session again. Monday, August 28th. Nagisa thought of writing another countdown to this trimester's midterms on the board, but this thoughts were interrupted by a single buzz in his pocket. He took out his phone. An email, cc'd to every teacher in the school.

 _Dear educators and instructors of Paradise High,_

 _First of all, I would like to congratulate most on a first trimester well done. Second of all, I regret to inform you all that the scores for the most recent final exams will be released later than usual. They are to be expected soon enough._

 _Thank you in advance for you patience,_

 _Principal Gakuto Akino_

"Class," Nagisa announced after he took roll call (all present and accounted for). "Okay, so there's good news, and there's bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

Radio silence.

"Um, the bad news?" Banno spoke.

"That's the only answer I heard, so bad news it is. The release of the grades for the finals will be delayed."

"Well, that also delays my demise, so okay." Hamada laughed.

Huh. No real heartbreak. But the students still weren't confident about their grades...

"Okay then, good news: Pack your bags, we're having a barbecue at lunch today."

"Because of the weather?" Kagato picked his head off of his desk.

"For me, I consider it a celebration of having a baby girl. For you, consider it a celebration of having enough money to repair this room!"

Nagisa did not expect the following reaction. Everyone just hooray'ed and high-fived. Toshima even approached Nagisa and high-fived him. Nagisa smiled with pride. He got a room full of 'delinquents', kids that the school had given up on, and had them work towards a productive goal. And they reached it.

Nagisa wiped a few tears away. "Okay class. Take your seats..."

* * *

It was soon lunchtime, and Nagisa and the students were packing up and getting ready to go outside. Nagisa gave the cooler full of meats and vegetables to Izumoto to pull, he was both big enough and less likely to chuck it at Nagisa's head.

As they begun walking outside, Toshima caught up with Nagisa.

"Hey teach?" Toshima's black hair fluttered a bit as he huffed to keep pace with his sensei.

"Yes? And call me Shiota-sensei." The short man pushed a tree branch out of the way, careful that it didn't whack any of his pupils in the face.

"So, you're having a girl?"

"Yep!" Nagisa reached into his pocket and took out a photo of the most recent ultrasound, handing it to the teen. He always kept a copy on him. Toshima stared. "See her? My girlfriend and I already have a name picked out. We're so excited!"

"I guess it's only fair." Toshima said after thinking for a bit. "You're surrounded by boys at work, and by girls at home."

"Yeah just make sure she doesn't grow up to be like Kotori." A voice snarked behind him.

"Fuck you, Shisaki!"

The clearing in the forest was sunny and bright. Summer would soon be over. Nagisa went over to start the grill that was always here for this purpose.

"Shiota sensei?" Aida asked while trying to push Nagisa onto the flames.

"Yes?" The young teacher dodged, pulling the grill out of the way so that his student wouldn't faceplant onto it.

The high schooler quickly got up and dusted himself off. "Do you really think we'll have the time to do this before fifth period?"

"Oh, forget about time. We'll go back when we're done." His students went to take their seats on the ground. "But that doesn't mean you're getting out of class. First I want to hear about your breaks." He could hear the eyerolls. "I also expect help."

3-5 didn't need to be told twice. "Takemura threw a bottle at me." Azuki made a sloppy attempt to shank Nagisa with the skewers. It was gracefully sidestepped.

"Azuki hit me with his skateboard." Takemura handed his teacher the vegetables without making eye contact.

"I lost all my money in a bet with Kazama."

"We took in another stray dog."

"My brother got arrested at the beach."

"And my birthday just passed right before the break started!" Nagisa finished off storytime.

"So that makes you, what, fifteen?" Kagato snarked.

"Plus eight." Nagisa cracked his knuckles as the shish-kabobs were finishing cooking. "Anyway, those all sound like interesting experiences. I want a fifteen sentence long composition, in English, on them. Due Friday."

Even after the food was served, Toshima clung to Nagisa. True, Toshima was definitely the most approachable and level-headed of the students, but he didn't attach to his teacher. Not usually. Nagisa cleared his throat. "Okay, Toshima. What's wrong? I can tell something's wrong."

His student exhaled. "You can see right through me."

 _It comes from living with an internationally acclaimed actress,_ Nagisa thought to himself. "Yes I can. Now what can I help you with?"

"Dude, you gotta help me." The eighteen year-old ran his fingers through his hair. "Or rather, you gotta help Takemura."

"With what?"

Toshima grabbed Nagisa by his sleeve and pulled his ear close. "He's miserable. He misses home. He doesn't want to go anywhere or do anything. I don't know what to do for him."

Nagisa thought for a moment. "What do you propose I do?"

Toshima looked around to see if the friend in question was in earshot. Upon seeing that he was on the other side of the clearing laughing with Azuki. "I don't know! But you seem more equipped to handle this shit than I."

* * *

So when the day came to an end, Nagisa approached this issue the same way he approached every other issue that his students had; He assigned the student in question cleaning duty.

Takemura stood on the other side of the room, sweeping the floor and avoiding his sensei.

"So Takemura, I've been thinking of visiting Kagoshima. Tell me what it's like."

Takemura let out a nervous sigh. He was one of the tallest students in the whole grade, but he felt two feet tall compared to Nagisa. "Beautiful sandy beaches. Palm trees. It's never below 15 degrees. No snow in the winter. And my grandparents house is always full of people, laughter, good food, and the first week of the year we'd go to the shrine and..." When he realized that his sensei was listening intently, he busied himself with the nonexistent dust in the corner. Nagisa walked towards him, and Takemura moved away, until he unintentionally backed himself into a corner.

Nagisa got a reading on his wavelength. He was scared. "Don't flee from me. I'm your teacher." He took a few steps back, to appear nonthreatening. "I see you're homesick."

"So what if I am?"

"Is that why you're in 3-5? Is your homesickness getting in the way of your academics? Of your social life? Because if the answer is yes, then it's a problem."

Takemura shrugged. "I guess it is."

"Do you want to go back?"

"Yes-" The high schooler said without hesitation. "It's just... Everything that bored me about that town when I lived there became my favorite thing about it when I left."

"Do you think you'll be going back to visit anytime soon? Even just on a vacation, to see your grandparents maybe?"

"I'll try to ask my mother. But she loves it here, so she might shoot that down."

"You never know until you try. In the meantime, I would recommend trying to make good memories here. You have friends, and you're only going to be in high school once. Don't forget about the here-and-now just because you miss yesterday." Nagisa was speaking from experience, he went through the same thing adjusting high school after the assassination classroom. "If you find that you really miss Kagoshima that much, you can go back there as an adult."

A smile began to form on Takemura's lips. Nagisa had never seen it before. "Th-Thanks, Shiota-sensei. I don't know what to say-"

"You don't have to say anything." Nagisa got ready to go home, unaware that his students were at that moment, talking about him in their group chat, and specifically about what they should do about his belated birthday.

Instead, Nagisa was making lists in his head. The next thing to look out for were the grades, which should be posted soon-

 _Wait a minute,_ _why_ _exactly were the release of the finals scores delayed..._

Nagisa felt his stomach drop, knowing full well who was probably behind this.

* * *

 **AN: When Takemura says it's never below 15 degrees, he means in Celsius, which is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit.**


	19. Chapter 19

**I'm not sure about this chapter, so please tell me if there's anything wrong with it.**

* * *

3-5's group chat was blowing up all week with posts about their sensei.

 **Kentaro Toshima: What should we do for Shiota-sensei's birthday? I mean, it passed over a month ago, but the guy's brought up our grades in such a short amount of time, so we should do something for him.**

 **Ichiro Kagato: Fuck it. Why should we do anything that prick? It's his job to help us.**

 **Yukito Tsukuda: I don't know man, I can't afford shit.**

 **Kentaro Toshima: We don't have to spend money. We should just let him know he's appreciated.**

 **Mamoru Kazama: What did you have in mind dude?**

 **Kentaro Toshima: I was asking all of you.**

 **Hiro Izumoto: My dad works at a piñata factory! Let's give him one!**

 **Shigeki Aida: ...Unorthodox, but I like it.**

 **Kotori Kasegawa: I still advocate for giving away my mom's booze stash. Maybe she'll fucking sober up for a couple hours.**

 **Moritaka Hamada: Do you need someone to talk to?**

 **Kotori Kasegawa: Maybe.**

 **Kimiya Shisaki: A box of condoms. He clearly needs them.**

 **Kentaro Toshima: Do you want to get expelled?**

 **Kimiya Shisaki: Let's fill the piñata with them.**

 **Yoshio Azuki: ... Okay, I laughed. I got it, let's buy him and his girlfriend tickets to the school play coming up!**

 **Kentaro Toshima: That's the first good idea I've heard from you in two years.**

 **Yoshio Azuki: You suck.**

 **Kenataro Toshima: It wasn't me who decided to trespass on school property at two a.m. All in favor?**

 **Hiro Izumoto: I.**

 **Mamoru Kazama: Me.**

 **Yukito Tsukuda: I.**

 **Hiro Izumoto: I.**

 **Kotori Kasegawa: I.**

 **Shigeki Aida: Sure.**

 **Kimiya Shisaki: Fine.**

 **Moritaka Hamada: I.**

 **Konosuke Takemura: Okay.**

 **Yoshio Azuki: I better get credit for suggesting this.**

 **Ichiro Kagato: Ugh, fine, whatever. I think we should just bake a cake and poison it, but I'm outvoted here.**

* * *

It was already September.

Nagisa walked up the hill to the school, pondering how long he'd been here. A little over five months. And yet, in that time he had seen so much improvement in his students. Everyone's grade point averages were rising steadily, he didn't have an issue with truancy, and they were all focused on a goal. Even if that goal was killing their sensei.

Nagisa smiled, enjoying the early fall weather. Things were going great for him.

The grades for last semester's final exams were finally released. While they once again did not place all in the top 50, the results were pleasing nonetheless. Shigeki Aida, 60th place. Yoshio Azuki, 76th place. Hiro Izumoto, 83rd place. Ichiro Kagato, 81st place. Mamoru Kazama, 74th place. Kotori Kasegawa, 71st place. Kimiya Shisaki, 52nd place. Konosuke Takemura, Yukito Tsukuda, 59th place. Kentaro Toshima, 40th place. Moritaka Hamada, 75th place. Hayata Banno, 84th place.

Nagisa spun around to see his class. They all wore expressions of joy, and Nagisa felt his heart swell. "Good. You should be proud of yourselves." It was moments like this that made him love being a teacher.

As if on cue, Toshima stood up. "And you should be proud of yourself." The room quieted down. "You raised our grades so much in these few months, and-"

Azuki abruptly stood up "Don't steal my thunder! Yeah we're grateful, or something like that. Anyway, we thought we should do something special for your belated birthday. So look underneath the attendance folder." The student stared at his feet. "It was my idea." He quickly added.

Expecting another assassination attempt, the educator braced himself and did as he was told. What he did not expect was to find two slips of paper. Upon closer examination, they were tickets to the upcoming school play. Nagisa was shocked. His class was grateful to him? Enough that they bought him a gift? He wiped away a tear. He really did feel like he was channeling the ghost of Koro-sensei.

He slipped the tickets into his bag. "Thank you very much class." He turned around to write on the board. _September 5th. Forty-five days til midterms._

This would also help with his investigation of what the duo of Shibata and Nakagawa were up to...

* * *

That Friday, Nagisa had packed his bag at the end of the afternoon and was leaving school. While he was on his way home, a familiar face caught his attention in front of a café. A tall black-haired man who looked like he hadn't slept in years.

"Karasuma-sensei!" He ran over to his old teacher.

The thirty-five year-old former teacher looked rather surprised to see his old student. "Nagisa? I haven't seen you around town much."

"Yeah, well, Akari and I don't get out much anymore." Nagisa then blushed, realizing what he had just admitted to.

Karasuma looked puzzled, but did not push the issue. A yell interrupted their conversation. "I think he went over here!"

"Hide!" Karasuma whisper-shouted and pushed Nagisa under one of the outdoor tables, and joined him.

The voices continued. "No boss, he went over there." Neither man under the table had any idea where 'there' was...

"Are you stupid? He's that way!"

The goons kept arguing. Karasuma placed his hand over Nagisa's mouth to prevent him from calling out. "Shush. I'm hiding from these guys, in case you couldn't tell."

The voices approached. "This isn't gonna be like the time we sent you to Haruna-sa-"

"Yeah say that louder, I'm sure there are people in Okinawa who didn't hear you."

"You know what? Fine, shit-for-brains, I'll trust you this once and take this way. But if..."

As the voices became more distant, Nagisa felt himself fill with horror. _One of these guys_ was the guy who tried to break into Akari's set!? Nagisa's blood started to boil. Just who _were_ these people?

Seeing that they were no longer in danger, Karasuma relaxed his grip on Nagisa and both men got out from under the table. "Sorry you had to witness that. But I-"

"Karasuma." The short blue-haired man interrupted him. "Who are those guys?"

The ex-military man sensed his bloodlust, and he trusted his former student to stay safe, so he decided to let him in on it. "We probably shouldn't talk here. I don't live far, how about we go to my and Irina's place?"

"Okay." _Akari should know about this too_ , Nagisa thought. "Can I bring Akari? I mean, Kayano?"

"Sure."

* * *

When the trio entered the front door, "Miss Hellabitch" glomped her husband. "Tadaomi! I missed you so much!"

"I was only gone for a few hours..."

Irina then noticed her former students in the doorway. "Hello, brats!" She approached them, then took pause at Akari's visible condition. "Well, I'll start making tea."

"We all need to talk." The black-haired man took off his coat.

"Tadaomi, is this about that thing..."

"Yes, _that_ thing."

Minutes later, all four were in the living room sitting with their teacups. Except Karasuma, who was leaning on the wall monolouging.

"I did some work with them. Government stuff. And I caught them doing some shady business. They now want to take me out of commission, if you know what I mean. Before you ask, this particular thing isn't a part of my job. The Ministry of Defense has bigger problems to deal with. I didn't want to get caught up in this, but now I am." He punctuated that with a sigh.

"What shady business? Spill." Nagisa had already finished his teacup, and reached toward the pot for more.

"Gambling. Racketeering. Money laundering. Fraud. I even heard from another person in the Ministry that they're loan sharks. All that stuff."

"I can't say they look familiar otherwise though. So maybe not assassins." Irina stirred her tea. "Then again, it's been a while."

Nagisa and Akari both bit their lips. The person who visited Akari's set, the loan sharks... Was this all coming together? That'd be too convenient.

"I ask because of come creepy stuff that's been going on recently with us..."

As Nagisa finished his description of the recent events, Karasuma sat upright. "That does sound suspicious. What else do you know?"

"We strongly suspect this is all connected. The school play, the loan sharks Satoshi went to, the person who tried to break into Kayano's set... Shit, even Narayama must be involved." The bluenette almost forgot about that guy. "But who are they? What are they planning?"

"I don't envy your position. But if you need any help with anything, we're certainly in a position to do so." The government agent exhaled, and threw a glance at his wife as if to ask her approval for something. "Anyways, why don't you two stay for dinner? We've got a lot of catching up to do."

Over the next hour, Nagisa and Akari were caught up on what their old teachers were doing over the past few years. Working for the government was, as one might expect, stressful and exciting. And they had just gotten back from their vacation in Hawaii for their fifth anniversary.

"The beaches are beautiful," Irina sighed. "So warm and sunny. You should go there someday. Maybe for your honeymoon." Both young adults blushed at that.

Soon, Nagisa and Akari got ready to go home, as it was getting late out and Nagisa figured he should get a head start on lesson plans for the coming weeks. They bowed. "That you Karasuma-sensei, Bitch-sensei."

"Oh, it was nothing- WAIT WHY ARE YOU STILL CALLING ME THAT-"

"Come back soon." Karasuma cut her off.

"We'll invite you over next time." And there was one other thing. "Karasuma-sensei, you're easily the strongest man in all of Japan, yet you're clearly scared of these guys... Why?"

"...I'm flattered, but I'm really not that strong. Anyway, we need to address the other elephant in the room before you leave." Karasuma collected the dishes. "Kayano, are you..."

"Yes, I'm pregnant." Akari covered her growing belly with her hands. "We were going to tell you but we never got around to it."

"I see." Karasuma hummed. "Well, we're happy for you. Just be extra careful regarding that thing now."

"We're trained assassins, of course we will be." Nagisa helped Akari get her shoes on.

"If you ever need babysitters, we're here." Irina grabbed Akari's hands, rubbing the baby. "I can't wait to see him or her."

"Neither can we. And it's a her." The young couple then left.

* * *

Now that they were alone, the "strongest man in all of Japan" spoke to his wife in a serious tone.

"Honey, you know more about the world of crime than I ever will. What do you make of this..."

Irina lit up a cigarette, then thought for a minute. "They're going to need our help. It always starts out like this."


	20. Chapter 20

**I'm not sure about this chapter either, so let me know what you think.**

 **In response to acetwinef: Thank you for the interesting observation. I'll address the whole idea of them training after graduation in a later chapter. As for Koro-sensei's book, we're about to see it.**

* * *

Nagisa stood on the balcony of the flat, looking down to the street. The September weather was already getting cool and crisp, but it was nice to sit outside in. People passed by. The sun was already setting, casting pink and orange light everywhere.

The blue-haired teacher turned and went inside, careful to close and lock the door on the way inside. Akari was sleeping in their room a few steps away. He smiled at the thought.

Something that was attached to the fridge via magnet caught his attention. He approached it. Oh that's right, it was the tickets to the school play. Two of them. He removed the tickets and examined them closely.

 _Admit one_

 _An Adventure in Kyoto_

 _Paradise High School_

 _Opening night: Thursday, October 12th, 2023_

Hmm. He had taken good care of them, they were not at all wrinkled. But these didn't hold too many answers to the numerous questions he had. Why was the play postponed again? How was this connected to the grades' delay?

The twenty-three year-old unintentionally began pacing back and forth, pondering for an answer. Before he knew it, his girlfriend fell into his line of sight.

Akari covered her mouth, letting out a huge yawn. "Hey, Nagisa." Her hands were now resting on her bump. It was growing bigger and bigger every day.

"Akari," He breathed. "How are you feeling?"

"Hungover, except I haven't had a drink in close to six months." She sat down on the stool, laying her head on the kitchen counter.

He handed one ticket to her. She took a close look at it.

"So this is what we were invited to?"

"Yeah."

Akari picked her head off of the table. "We should keep our eyes out. Maybe do a little exploring."

Her boyfriend twitched a bit. "We have to be careful of your condition."

"Certainly." The actress let another yawn escape. "I can't believe how tired I am."

"But the doctor says you and the baby are as healthy as can be." He pulled another stool out and sat down next to her. He ran his hands through her hair. Completely out of the blue, Nagisa thought of something. A gift. A beloved object he hadn't looked at in a while.

The short man got up and walked toward the living room, holding his lover's hand and beckoning her to follow. Two books, huge ones, sat on the shelf beneath the television. It was Koro-sensei's book of advice that he gave each of them at graduation.

Nagisa pulled his out of the shelf, it fell on the floor as he couldn't support its weight. He looked through its several thousand pages. Anything about crimes? There must be a tremendous amount of advice about teaching, but that went without saying. Flipping through its several thousand pages, he tried to skim for what he was looking for. The table of contents and the index were not helping at the moment. But something just jumped out, on page 821. A handwritten note from Koro-sensei.

 _Nagisa,_

 _Remember when you are teaching, you must put yourself in your students' shoes. There were many times where your or one of your classmates were experiencing something that I had not experienced and could not relate to, but I had to try to understand in my own way. Your students will have their own way of doing things and their own reasons for it. Consider it._

 _\- Koro-sensei_

Nagisa felt like this might be important. He put a bookmark in it. This book already had numerous bookmarks jutting out from everywhere, so he wrote a brief note on the top of it. Akari was mere centimeters from him, flipping through her own book with a smile on her face. They spent the rest of the night reading their books, but still had not come anywhere close to finishing it by bedtime.

* * *

Monday morning, once again. The chalkboard counted down. _39 days 'til midterms._ Nagisa looked out to his students with pride. When he first arrived here, he didn't think of this as his ideal class, but he had begun to realize that it meant more to grow with a less than ideal class. They no longer walked in with scowls every morning, and they turned in homework consistently. Progress meant so much to him.

Now that it was 7:30, it was time to take roll call. Aida, present. Kazama, present. Tsukuda, present. Banno, present. All present and accounted for... Except Toshima.

That was weird. Yes, this class's truancy problem had mostly faded away in the past few months, but there was still a few absences, accounting for most students. But Toshima would come to class while severely ill, if he only had two hours of sleep last night, if he spent the morning talking on the phone to his parents in France. He must have had a good reason to miss class. Deciding not to worry too much, he went on with his lessons today.

But Toshima did not come in the next day either. Maybe he was really sick? Nagisa would have asked the class rep to deliver his work to him, but Class 3-5 didn't have one of those. They weren't allowed to. The principal said it was a privilege that they lost. So the sensei just asked Kazama to bring it to him.

On Wednesday, Toshima returned. "Hello, Toshima! Feeling better?" Nagisa beamed at his student. The polite, well-behaved teen stared daggers at him. For once, something in this class sent shivers down Nagisa's spine. He did not expect this from one of his most productive, successful students.

But class had to go on, and Nagisa kept an eye on his prized pupil. He seemed to shift in his seat and not pay attention much in class. So strange for him. At lunch, it all culminated.

With a loud grunt, Toshima shot upwards. He rushed at his sensei, concealing something- a weapon? The short blue-haired man dodged, grabbing the student's wrist in the process. The student now had no option but to drop it. Nagisa picked it up immediately. A ball point pen that had been disassembled and sharpened to a fine point. It was capable of doing damage, unlike most of the 'blades' that 3-5 wielded.

Nagisa felt an emotion he had not felt in a while. A weird combination of pride and upset. On one hand, his student was now working with his class on an assignment they had been given months ago. One could even consider it a group project. But on the other hand, call him a hypocrite but he couldn't help but feel a little betrayed that someone he had grown to not be weary of and even trust could try to hurt him. Nagisa needed to react quickly.

So he flashed the same smile he did at Takaoka all those years ago.

"See me after class today. Cleaning duty." 3-5 was too shocked to even speak.

* * *

Classes soon ended for the day, after what felt like years to the seventeen year-old. He just tried to attack his teacher! And the best one he had ever had, at that. No, Shiota-sensei must have been joking when he suggested that they _kill him_ the first day of classes. He was in deep shit, he braced himself for what he knew was coming.

Except it wasn't. Nagisa had spent all day thinking over the advice he had come across in Koro-sensei's book. Racking his mind for something relevant, until it stuck out: _Your students will have their own way of doing things and their own reasons for it._ He knew what to do.

The teacher tapped his shoulder gently. Toshima looked up, shaking. Nagisa smiled. "Calm down. I'm not mad."

"You're-You're not?"

"No." Nagisa tossed him an sponge to scrub the desks with. "This was an assignment I gave to you a long time ago. I'm just curious as to why you ignored it for half a year, but suddenly decided not to now. You must have a reason."

Toshima was staring out the window, breathing deeply. He was shaking just a few minutes ago, but now he remembered all the times that he trusted Shiota-sensei. "So I was sick for a few days."

"That's what I'd gathered."

"I was miserable. Snot coming out of me like a fountain, vomit, hell I couldn't read a book because my eyes were too full of tears."

Naigsa suppressed an "eww", because he knew he'd be dealing with these types of things when Kaede arrived.

"And after one of my fever dreams, I kinda-sorta came to a revelation." Toshima squeezed the sponge, watching the soapy water ooze out. "My parents are working all the way in France. They high-tailed it over there the moment mom was declared cancer-free. They just send money for me and my sister. We take care of ourselves." He paused, staring at a crack in the hardwood floor. It drew his attention for some reason. "I'm gonna get out into the real world, and well, I need to be taken seriously there. I can't get my parents' attention, I don't have many friends... I want to be noticed." He clenched his fists. "And what better way to be noticed than to 'kill' your teacher?"

"Well, being taken seriously in high school doesn't necessarily translate to being taken seriously in the real world. I think we should discuss possible career paths for you. And that's good, because career counseling starts next week. I look forward to hearing from everyone."

Toshima just stared. Then, he abruptly turned around and bowed at a forty-five degree angle.

"I'm so sorry, Shiota-sensei! I'm really grateful for all you've done for me!"

Nagisa patted his head. "You don't need to feel sorry. You did manage to surprise me, and that's the mark of a good assassin." The teen stood up. "And I'm really flattered, after all I became a teacher to guide young minds. About your parents..."

"They're coming to visit for Christmas. I'm going to talk to them then."

Nagisa breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I'm glad to hear it."

"I'm going to go now." The boy now wore a bright smile. "Now that I'm healthy, Kazama and I were gonna go study for that test next Friday."

* * *

The week had flown by. The former assassin looked at the board. _Friday, September 15th_. He took another glace at the list of test results for his class. What did Principal Akino think of them _now_? He hadn't run into him in a while, but he could only imagine.

"Shiota-san?" Well, speaking of him...

Nagisa raised his head to look at the principal. "Hello there, Akino-san. Anything you need?"

Akino slowly scanned the room, before finally settling on a snowglobe on Nagisa's desk. One he had gotten at the beach two months ago. Gently, the principal shook it, seeing the white flurries scatter across the palm tree. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Oh, you know. Grading papers all day." Nagisa chuckled.

"Anyways. I didn't just come here to chat." Akino put the snowglobe down. "I've got an invitation."

"For me? To what?"

"A staff meeting. Thursday the 21st." He looked his newest employee in the eye, as if to challenge him. "Right after school, in the staff room. In light of your recent successes," Akino stopped to catch a breath. "We find it appropriate for you to be at this staff meeting."

 _We? Who's we?_ Nagisa wondered. _And why wasn't I invited to any before now?_ "Alright, I'll be there."

"Glad to hear."

Something Nagisa had forgotten about re-emerged. "Um, Akino-san?"

"Yes?"

"Why was the release of the final grades delayed? Any particular reason for that?"

The normally intimidating man froze, then grimaced a bit. "It was requested by some very esteemed teachers. They said they needed the extra time. You know, because of after school activities. They wanted time to discuss it with their students." The principal walked out, leaving Nagisa alone with his thoughts.

 _Yeah, I know who he's referring to. But what kind of after school activities..._ Nagisa collected his things and headed home.

* * *

The department store was bustling, typical Saturday. Akari and Nagisa had decided to spend today looking for baby stuff. Dressed in her maternity clothes, Akari loaded up the cart full of bottles, clothes, and other things that would be of use in the coming year. Last time she called Nakamura had told her of a Western practice called a baby shower, wherein friends and family gave the expectant mother gifts. Sigh. That would be nice right now.

Nagisa wandered around the store with a map. He was looking for strollers. How could he get lost in a department store? How many freaking Starbucks could there be in this place? Once again, he found a familiar face.

"Hayami?"

The orange-haired girl nodded. "Yeah, I work here now. I'm sure you heard about the incident at the bar?"

"The one about Kanzaki being banned? Yeah, Karma told me."

"I walked out the moment it happened. Working here is less stressful anyway."

Nagisa was shocked that this was the same stoic girl he went to junior high with. She was actually talking to him, in a job that involved interacting with people? Everyone really was changing as they got older.

"So what happened to Chiba?"

"He works here too. We just got an apartment together on the far side of town. We're getting through grad school." She rearranged scarves on the clothes rack. "How's Kayano and the baby?"

As if on cue, the movie star in question appeared next to them. "Great, we can't wait for her to be born." She pushed the cart in front of Nagisa.

"If you're looking for strollers, they're that way." Hayami pointed towards the back of the store.

"Thank you." The couple went on with their shopping adventure, wondering what else could possibly fit in their cart.


	21. Chapter 21

**Now that the horror known as midterms is over (seriously it was bad this semester...), I have a break this upcoming week, and I'm also on vacation from work. So I plan on being very productive here. I'm hoping to post a few new chapters of this fic, update Fake Smiles at least once, and maybe post a new AssClass oneshot (I've got a couple of ideas). I also intend to start making these chapters longer (maybe around 2500-3000 words a piece), as I'm not satisfied with how short they've been.**

 **For those of you who might be wondering, I'm planning on this fic being about 45 chapters in total. Really that's tentative, it might change depending on what I decide to add to or take away from my outline.**

* * *

And when the next week arrived, Nagisa had a new duty to fulfill. The first session of career counseling began.

Nagisa sat at his desk, waiting for his first student to come in. He looks around at the room. It was currently in disrepair, but they had just ordered a bunch of materials to fix it. Ahh. Very good progress indeed-

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door swinging open. It was his first student to meet with today. Azuki. This was going to be an adventure.

"Sit down." Nagisa motioned for the delinquent to take his seat, but that clearly wasn't happening. The teacher was tackled by his student and pinned to the blackboard.

"Which college do you want to go to?" The young teacher pushed back against the force his pupil was exhorting.

"None." Nagisa kicked the desk to the side of him, causing pencils, erasers, and various items to fling all over the floor. The twelfth-grader turned to look at the mess, allowing Nagisa an opening to push him away and make an escape.

"What are your plans for the future?" The bluenette brushed the chalk dust off of his cardigan.

"Bleak." Azuki threw finely sharpened pencils at him. Sensei expertly dodged.

In the end, Nagisa told him to take a few months to think about it and get back to him later.

* * *

"I want to be a curator at a museum." Hamada finished, putting down the snowglobe that he threatened to use as a projectile (It was the same snowglobe that Nagisa and Akari had gotten on their vacation a few months before, and the only reason Hamada put it down was because Nagisa got uncharacteristically angry and demanded that he do so).

"I didn't expect that from you. You know you need a four-year degree for that?" Nagisa calmed down a bit.

"Yes." Hamada looked around the room for something else to use as a weapon.

"What college do you want to go?"

"The one within walking distance of my house. It's cheap and easy to get into." Hamada then found a large book and chucked it at Nagisa's head. While ducking, Nagisa made a note to bring home the snowglobe at the end of conferences today.

* * *

"I'm going to run a shelter that rescues stray animals." Tsukuda snuck up on the blue-haired teacher with a compass. Nagisa stepped out of the way before he made his move.

"Next time, try not to talk while you're sneaking up on me. Do you know what kind of training you have to go through for that?"

"No."

"Well, find out and get to work on that. You've only got six months left."

* * *

Izumoto was plastered to the window, fascinated by a butterfly that fluttered by. "I wanna be a be a mechanic!"

"Oh? For what?" Nagisa packed the progress reports away and locked the drawer.

"Motorbikes, cars..." He moved down the room to follow the butterfly.

Nagisa thought of Yoshida. "I know a guy who can help you. He runs a local bike shop and I went to Junior High with him. I'll see if he can get in contact with you."

* * *

Takemura hid under one of the desks after his assassination attempt went awry. "I wanna run a surf shop."

"Get out from under there, the floor is dirty. Do you plan on going back home?" Nagisa decided to sweep then and there.

"Probably. I've even starting looking for apartments."

"That's good." The floor now had to be cleaned.

* * *

Shisaki scrubbed the floor, but not without groaning about it. "Why should I do this for you? This has nothing to do with my future career."

"Okay then, what is your future career?"

"Drug dealer." The seventeen year-old glared.

"I hope you're being sarcastic." Nagisa frowned.

"Of course I'm being sarcastic! That job ain't even that lucrative. I wanna be an evil businessman."

Nagisa found himself reminded of Karma. "Not to be rude, but you're going to need better grades for that." Shisaki cringed. "So you might have to go to a public college, raise your grades, then transfer to a better university. Once you're into your second year of college, they don't care much about high school grades anymore."

* * *

Aida tried to push his blue-haired sensei over, taking advantage of the slippery floors, but Nagisa caught his hand and intercepted it. "What do you want to do with your life?" Nagisa didn't even seem phased, which scared the teen.

"Be a manager at golf course, maybe?"

"Oh? You have to go to school for that." Nagisa pushed Aida's wrist away.

"I know, I know..."

"So if you just put a little more effort in, I know you can accomplish it." The young teacher smiled.

* * *

Kazama disassembled a pencil sharpener, intending to use the blades as weapons. "Shiota-sensei, may I be completely honest for a second?"

"Of course. You can always be honest with me." Nagisa admired the squeaky clean floors.

"I'm getting kinda sick of this whole delinquent lifestyle. I think I might want to work in an office or something. I don't wanna start fights or punch people anymore."

Nagisa grinned to himself. "I'm thrilled to hear that you want to make good decisions for yourself and others. Any idea of what kind of office work you'd want to do?"

"Still figuring that out." Kazama threw the sharp blades at Nagisa, but they didn't fly far.

* * *

"I'm pretty damn good at throwing parties, so I think I'd make a good event planner." Banno whacked Nagisa on the head with his notebook. Or rather, he tried to. He missed and hit the brim of the hat Nagisa was wearing, as he was ready to head out the door after the next few students. The hat flung off, flying across the room and landing on top of the bookshelf.

Nagisa laughed at the occurance. "That sounds like a good fit for you. And could you get that for me please?"

* * *

Toshima was the next student to walk in. "What are your plans for the future?" The bluenette adjusted his hat.

"I'm not sure yet... I think I have the temperament to be something like a secretary or a call center operator."

"Toshima, if you're okay with some unsolicited advice, don't pick a job that subjects you to abuse at the hands of random people."

"Says the guy who asked his high school class to kill him."

"Err, yeah. Anyways, your temperament is just one part of what goes into determining your future career. You need to examine your skill set as well. And you, Toshima, are an excellent writer and you pay close attention when reading. So I'm going to suggest a career with books or the written word in general." Nagisa gave him a career aptitude test to take home. "But of course, it's ultimately up to you. If you have to take some time to think about it, that's okay."

* * *

Nagisa was picking up the cardboard box that Kasegawa had thrown at him after saying she wanted to be a drill sargent (Where did that box even come from? She must have been in the mailroom)."Kagato!" He turned to acknowledge his final student. "Where do you see yourself in five years?"

"Prison." He walked out without a glance.

* * *

Finally, It was Thursday. Career consulting was done done with, it would be revisited in February. But with the latter half of the week brought a new challenge. One Nagisa would have dreaded if he had the time to worry about it among the masses of papers and tests to grade.

Nagisa found himself outside of the office of the feared principal himself. He was joined by a few other staff members. Kawaguchi (thank goodness), a few teachers he met here and there (many the heads of departments), and... Nakagawa. The English teacher patted Nagisa's back condescendingly.

"Your first year seems to be going great! Will I see you at the play? You know Shibata and I are working hard on it."

Thank goodness Nagisa did not have to answer that, as the door swung open and Principal Akino welcomed them all in. His eyes slowly scanned the crowd before settling on Nagisa's face. The Principal looked a bit too pleased.

The staff sat around the oval table. Nagisa chose a seat far from the principal, and Kawaguchi sat next to him. Nagisa observed the room around him. It had hospital-esqe white walls, carpets that looked like they were shampooed on a weekly basis. The table was so sterile it was shiny. Nagisa was a bit jealous that what the rest of the school got to see was presentable, and his class was forced to work with a rat's nest. Oh well, they made it work-

Nakagawa cleared his throat. "Sorry guys. Shibata and Narayama won't be attending. Something urgent came up."

Nagisa writhed with sudden rage. But once again, he need not incriminate himself, as someone else spoke up for him.

Kawaguchi adjusted his glasses "Wow. Something that implicated them both? How sad."

Nakagawa suddenly got nervous and frantically waved his hand _no_. "No, no, nothing like that. Separate problems. They've got it all under control, _don't think about it_."

The stress put on those last few words made Nagisa's skin crawl. He wondered if he should go to the play in a disguise.

The meeting started abruptly. Lots of boring talk about school policies, where to place the bar in the entrance exams in order to get 100 fresh faces in March, and what provider to buy textbooks from. The effeminate man was beginning to wonder why he was invited to this staff meeting at all.

"Shiota-san, you did raise the money for repairs, right?" The principal addressed his newest hire.

"Yes."

"Good. That means we were not wrong to allocate those funds somewhere else." Nakagawa flashed a sadistic smile upon hearing this. It was subtle, but Nagisa was known for his attention to detail.

 _Was this supposed to be some kind of public humiliation thing?_ Nagisa, to his credit, was a decent actor (Akari was probably rubbing off on him), so he managed to laugh it off in spite of fuming underneath. "My class can take care of ourselves." He shot back.

"Actually, it's because of that that you're here today." Akino erased the boring diagrams on the whiteboard. "You've done quite the impressive job teaching 3-5 this year."

Nagisa felt like he was hallucinating. The principal was giving him accolades? And in front of other staff members, to boot!?

"That's why we'd like to ask you to continue teaching Class 3-5 next year."

Wow. That was not what he expected to be asked this early on! The students' final grades were not even close to being generated. This was all based off of progress reports and the fact that there were few disciplinary infractions coming from 3-5 all year. Maybe he shouldn't answer this question either. Maybe he should postpone that decision. But Nagisa's mouth spoke more quickly than his brain.

"I'll do it."

Principal Akino wore a satisfied expression. "Glad to hear it."

The meeting adjourned, and everyone picked up their stuff and began to walk outside, intent on heading home and spending a nice evening with their families. This applied to Nagisa most of all, yet he was stopped by a tap on his shoulder.

"I think everyone forgot to tell you, but I'm the newest member of the board of education." It was Nakagawa again. Nagisa felt sick to his stomach, connecting the dots in his mind.

* * *

The rest of September passed without much fanfare. The days were getting colder and the leaves fell and covered the ground in a brown crunchy floor. Nagisa stopped to check his phone. It was posts in the group chat. How many times could Isogai get locked out of his own apartment?

It was now October. At the same time that Nagisa was teaching his class trigonometry, Akari sat at the kitchen table, waiting for the chocolate chip cookies in the oven to finish baking. It was a Monday, Nagisa would be home in a few hours, and they'd go to the clinic to get another ultrasound.

She patted and rubbed her belly. 27 weeks, as of today. Six months. She hoped her 'hiatus' didn't catch too much attention. Feeling anxious about that now (damn pregnancy hormones), she grabbed her phone and looked through news articles on every trashy celebrity gossip website that she could think of.

"Haruna Mase is on extended hiatus!?"

"Should we be concerned about Haruna-sama's health?"

"When will we see Haruna-sama again?"

Akari Yukimura, someday to be Akari Shiota, known to a select group of thirty as Kaede Kayano, and lastly known to the rest of the world as Haruna Mase, let out a long cathartic sigh. She felt a little bad for deceiving everyone and causing them to worry about her, but having a child out of wedlock would ruin her public image. She had to appear to be this pure, delicate little waif who blushed when she so much as held a guy's hand. That was what her manager told her many years ago.

But still, she should update her fans. She took to every social media platform she had and typed up a long explanation.

 _Hello guys and girls! Glad to see you're all so concerned about me. I really do have the best fanbase in the world! Never fear, my dears, my condition is temporary and not at all dangerous. I just need some time to recover and I'll be back before you know it. Love you all!~ Haruna Mase  
_

And post. "Haruna Mase" began to scroll down her list of followers, because she had the sudden urge to. She was distracted, however, when the baby started to kick in her belly.

Akari dropped everything to move to the rocking chair to soothe Kaede, and then was distracted a second time when the oven went off, signifying that the cookies she made for herself, the man of her dreams, and the baby, were done. Struggling to get up because of her puffy ankles and throbbing womb, Akari got up and made her way toward the oven. She did not scroll down far enough to see something that would have looked very familiar to Nagisa.

A user with a very strange name (Drama Nerd in Paradise), and a profile picture that was clearly taken at Paradise High.


	22. Chapter 22

_Tuesday, October 3rd. Seventeen days 'til midterms._

Nagisa was staring at the board, thoughtlessly rapping his fingers against the desk. It was the beginning of the day and no one at arrived at class yet.

Nagisa took out the ultrasound of Kaede from his bag. She was already starting to look like a little baby. He wondered who she would look like, whose eyes and hair color she would inherit. He was sure she would inherit her mother's beauty and talent. Smiling, he put the photo into his breast pocket, so she'd be close to his heart. And according to the doctor, she was perfectly healthy. Wonderful.

3-5 finally started filling in, one by one. Classes began, and the day went on as normal. Until, that is, lunch rolled around. Nagisa sat grading papers, while he overheard his students' conversations.

"My key is missing." Kasegawa hissed.

"Who took it?" Hamada asked.

"If I knew, I'd have it back already!"

Azuki walked over to them. That was unusual. They weren't all that friendly. "Kotori, I went to pretty great lengths to get that thing for you. I'm disappointed."

"Fuck off. I paid you a long time ago, why do you care?" She growled.

The rest of the day went on without incident.

Nagisa decided to take a look at Azuki's permanent record. He already knew the full story with Kasegawa, but Azuki was one of the more mysterious students.

Cracked open to page 3. _Yoshio Azuki was caught trespassing on school property on Wednesday March 1, 2023 at 2:16 am. He was in his second year, Class 2-2. He was only caught because of the security cameras on the first floor. He was placed into 3-5 as punishment although there is no evidence he took anything or caused property damage. He refused to talk, so his intentions are unknown._

Nagisa sprawled out on the living room floor. He scratched his head. Did Azuki break in to get Kasegawa's key? But there was no evidence of anything being taken...

Nagisa yawned. He didn't know how he'd investigate this. He definitely couldn't ask his students, no way would someone like Azuki admit to breaking and entering and/or stealing school property.

* * *

"I heard one of my students was caught trespassing at the end of the last school year," Nagisa said to Kawaguchi as they walked home from work the following day.

"Yoshio Azuki? Yeah, I remember that." Kawaguchi looked up to admire the changing leaves. "They only caught him because he left the front door slightly ajar. So they pulled the security footage the moment they noticed, and saw the proof themselves. It's a good thing they acted so quickly, because the film is destroyed after 24 hours."

Nagisa took a mental note to remember that last part. It might be good to know later. "I really don't think he's a bad kid," Nagisa defended. "Just a little misguided, and I want to help him."

"I don't think he's bad either. " Kawaguchi sighed. "I couldn't get through to him, but maybe you can."

It was Thursday now. Nagisa asked Azuki to stay back after class.

"Why? You don't want me to sweep the floor again, do you?" He snarked.

"No, not this time." The blue-haired sensei laughed it off.

Nagisa had no weapons left in his arsenal, so he went with what usually worked: speaking frankly to his student. "So... Have you thought about what you want to do for a living? Or what college you want to go to?"

"Huh?" The skinny brown-haired teen was confused. "I thought I had a 'til February to decide."

"You do." The student teacher locked the drawers of his desk. "I just wanted to know if you've come to any developments since."

"Well, with my skills, I could be a spy or something. Or a part of organized crime."

"What talents?"

"Oh..." He averted his gaze. "I can pick locks, break into stuff, and I never get caught." He sounded proud of that.

"Except for that one time you were." Nagisa smiled. Azuki dropped the pencil he was carrying.

"H-how do you know about that?"

"Permanent records." Nagisa almost sang.

"I thought those things were a myth!"

"Nope." The bluenette shook his head.

"Now I gotta find those and burn 'em..." Azuki mused.

"Good luck finding them." Nagisa sat on top of his desk. "Now, what happened?"

"I ain't telling you."

Nagisa sighed. "Well, you're right that I can't force you to. But seriously, I'm here to help you. I'm your teacher, and I take my job very seriously."

"What do you even want to know?"

"Why you feel the need to break into places, sneak around, and maybe even get into crime."

"Because." The student shrugged.

"What does your mother think about it?"

Azuki flinched. Dammit. Nagisa stepped on dangerous territory. "Well, it's bad and dishonest. Do you really plan on doing this for the rest of your life?"

"As long as I can get away with it."

"Well, you won't be getting away with it forever. If you get caught by the cops someday, you won't get away with it."

Nagisa got no response from his student. Azuki just stared.

Nagisa was getting frustrated. This guy just refused to open up. "Well, I'm here to talk anytime when you're ready."

Azuki walked out.

* * *

The next week was spent in preparation for the play on Thursday the 12th. Nagisa's attention was divided between so many things that the week seemed to fly by. He even decided to hold off grading anything until the weekend.

The day was finally here. Nagisa and Akari had decided it was best that they go to the play in disguise. Well, that much was a no-brainer for Akari, given her intense desire to avoid paparazzi, but Nagisa had come to realize quickly that Shibata and Nakagawa were suspicious of him, so he dyed his hair black for the day (it would come out with a vigorous washing), put on a pair of glasses, and wore casual clothes.

Akari was looking around for her purse. Her disguise today was different from 'Kayano', she used purple hair paint and purple contacts. They were about to depart to their favorite restaurant, where they would be having dinner before the show.

"Okay, so keep your phone on vibrate, and in your lap. If I get in trouble, I'll text you the moment it happens, okay love?"

"'Kay Nagisa." Akari stuffed her purse full of tissues, cough drops, paper clips, and anything else that they could possibly need. "But let's be real subtle about sneaking around. We can't have someone notice us."

"Hence our disguises." Nagisa gave her a quick kiss, then they headed out the door.

* * *

At the restaurant, the pair of shorties chatted to pass the time.

"Yeah, Kurahashi visited today and said all the animals at the vet school love her." Akari was devouring a giant salad she'd ordered as an appetizer.

"I expected that. Any news from everyone else?" Nagisa used his chopsticks to pick an arugula leaf out of the bowl.

"I was going to call Nakamura soon. I just gotta do the math and figure out when would be a time she wouldn't be asleep or working." Akari only stopped now that the bowl was empty. She let out a sigh. "I'm going to the bathroom." She got up, dusting off her skirt.

"You were in there ten minutes ago..." Nagisa poured some tea for them both.

"Sorry, but I'm pregnant. I need to pee a lot." She patted Nagisa's shoulder playfully. "And whose fault is that?"

"Guilty as charged."

Nagisa could not see it before, as Akari was unintentionally blocking his view, but a couple of kids wearing Paradise High uniforms were sitting behind them. One sipped her milkshake with a slight frown.

"... So yeah. When I left like an hour ago there was this weird car in the back, blocking the path I use to go home. I don't know what it was..."

* * *

The entrance of the school was well decorated with streamers and balloons. The floors were nice and clean, and the performers could be heard backstage. Nagisa held hands with Akari, presenting their tickets to the booth.

The student running the ticket booth took a look at Akari's belly. "Ignore what your tickets say. Sit wherever you want."

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Akari laughed. The young couple choose seats in the back, so they could "get to the restroom" more easily. The lights soon dimmed. Shibata's voice was heard over a microphone. "Welcome to Paradise High School's 2023 Fall play, _An Adventure in Kyoto_. Please silence your cellpones, and note that there will be a brief fifteen minute intermission between Acts one and two. Now sit back and enjoy..."

Nagisa and Akari decided to wait until fifteen minutes into the first act, to assure that they were not caught by people who came in late. And by then, the booth people would have gone backstage. Akari had been in this play as a child, and could confirm that the first act was an hour. That gave them forty-five minutes 'til intermission. Plenty of time.

The first fifteen minutes of the play were a mixed bag. The actors were talented and the music was cute and catchy. But the one glaring flaw was the props and background. They were so poorly made and cheap looking. The paints were too bright and the trees looked like they had just taped together a bunch of branches. Where was all this money that was apparently allocated to the drama club going?

It was 7:15. Now was the time. Nagisa and Akari went out the doors. Assuring that there was no one in this hallway who could witness them, they turned left and stopped at a corner. They moved onwards towards their target.

Part of the hall was sectioned off with lunch tables as an area for the cast and crew. A large model of the Kiyomizu-dera that would probably be used later blocked off the opening. Akari plopped down and sat behind it. She was the lookout. In the event that someone came by, she'd text Nagisa first, then pretend to be looking for the restroom. After all, who would question a pregnant woman's intentions?

Nagisa had walked by here many times before, and did a sweep earlier today of the exact layout, to determine how not to cause trouble when he did his snooping. Nagisa felt a bit guilty. He hoped he wouldn't inconvenience the students.

He got to his hands and knees, saw through the gap between the prop and the wall that there was no one in the hall at the moment, and wiggled in. For the first time in his life, Nagisa felt thankful that he was so small and slender. He immediately shot into the men's restroom that was right there. He hid in the stall closest to the door and sat down on the floor.

Catching his breath, he went over the floor plan in his mind. Right next to him, the restroom shared a wall with the prop room. Well, it was technically the band room, but it was being used as a prop room for now. And the school was too cheap to soundproof it, so he felt bad for any teacher who had a room on this side of the school. Right across the hall from him was Shibata's office, the Danger Zone. Down past the prop room were the piano room and other undetermined teacher's room, probably being used as dressing rooms and should be avoided.

The other dangerous factor was that the girls' restroom was down the hall in the opposite direction, meaning that the female actors would have to pass by him to use it.

He didn't have to wait long, soon the voices he both waited for and dreaded were heard echoing around. The two were exiting Shibata's office. "Everyone's on stage, now's our chance..."

Saying a quick prayer to not be caught, Nagisa set his phone to recording mode.

"... And what about all the money?" Nagisa could discern Shibata's voice.

"In the car. I was keeping it in Narayama's room- of course, he agreed, I gave him some as hush money. And if he doesn't, well, he knows firsthand what we'll do."

"Good move. I think that pipsqueak they hired fresh out of college suspects something. He might have searched ours."

"Exactly what I was thinking." Nakagawa was audibly cracking his knuckles.

"Shut up. It's your fucking fault for requesting that the play be postponed. If anything comes out I can call my old buddies and beat some sense into you."

And to that, no response.

"Okay." It was Shibata again. "I've checked the entire backstage. Go check the prop room. Can't leave any evidence of our misdeeds, now can we?"

Something fell on the floor of the prop room with a _clang_. The borderline-criminal duo did not hear it, but Nagisa had the benefit of being lined up against the wall adjacent to where it fell.

"... I've grabbed it all. Not even the kids suspect a thing, I'm sure. Now they'll need us up at the sound booth..." Then two sets of footsteps lead away, towards the stage.

Curiosity once again got the best of Nagisa, and he took a huge risk by going into the prop room to pursue the source of the _clang_.

It was dark, very dark. Nagisa didn't want to take any more risks by turning on the light (if he could even reach it), so he used his phone as a flashlight and got on his hands and knees on the floor, feeling for anything at all. The sound did seem like it came from the front right corner of the room, near the wall it shared with the bathroom, and thankfully near the door.

Something smooth and metallic grazed his fingertips. Aiming the phone downward, he saw that it was a key. Upon closer examination, this was the master key to the school that Kasegawa always had. How did it get here?

Quickly doing a sweep of that corner of the room and seeing that there was nothing else that could have made that noise, the blue-haired man stuffed the master key into his pocket, and made a frantic exit to the hall. Akari shot right upwards and joined him.

They did not stop until they reached the hall that opened to the lobby, and was parallel to the theatre. Nagisa stopped to catch his breath. He hadn't run like that since two years ago. Akari on the other hand, didn't seem to break a sweat. Thinking he was finally out of the danger zone, Nagisa breathed a sigh of relief. Yet he thought he was going to have a heart attack a second later when a voice called out to him.

"Hey, you!"

Nagisa gulped. Should he turn around? He didn't recognize the voice, and the person didn't refer to him by name. He didn't know this person. Crap.

"Hey, you!" He felt a tug on his shirt. Finally conceding to turn around, he was poked by an old lady, about his height. It was true, he didn't recognize her. But she didn't seem to carry any malice.

"You're a student here, right sweetie? Would you direct me to the restroom? I'm sure this lovely woman right here is wondering the same." She gestured to Akari, who played along and nodded.

Nagisa was too high off of his sudden ability to breathe to even be insulted that he was mistaken for a high schooler. "Oh, it's right by the front office down there." He pointed to the right.

"Thank you dear, I hope my grandson doesn't go onstage in the next few minutes." She walked off towards said restroom, and Nagisa and Akari went back to take their seats.

Neither payed much attention to the second act. They just sat stiffly, eyeing the sound booth where the suspects were located. They didn't seem to notice or recognize either of the couple. Soon the applause thundered, the cast and crew did their bows, and the audience made their exits. Just as Nagisa and Akari were walking by the sound booth, a panicked whisper came from Nakagawa.

"Shit where is the key-"

Nagisa and Akari did not look behind as they left the building.

* * *

Lying in bed that night, the couple was embracing after washing the paint out of their hair.

"I can't believe I did that." Nagisa breathed.

"Me neither." Akari squirmed as the baby kicked. "I hope we have enough evidence to... you know, prove something." The 'weird car' hadn't been in the back anymore by the end of the show.

Nagisa cast a glance to the master key on the nightstand. "Yeah. All we have to do is cross our fingers that no one looks at that security footage in the next 24 hours."


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: If I get anything wrong about how basketball is played, I'm sorry. I was a high school drama geek, I was never into any kind of sport.**

* * *

Nagisa was shaking the whole next day in school. He was only coming in to work, yet he felt like a criminal. He practically jumped when Toshima asked him a simple question. "So how was the play?"

"The play!? Oh yes, the play. It was good. We have some amazing talent here." If his students suspected that their sensei was hiding something, they didn't speak of it. The play would continue all weekend, and many of them would see it and not think much was going on behind the scenes.

The student teacher prayed all day. _Please don't let them pull the security footage, please don't let them pull the security footage..._

And it seemed that they indeed didn't. Nagisa received no strange emails from the board and on Monday morning his mailbox was populated only by a flyer announcing to register students for the sports festival on Friday the 27th.

Nagisa addressed that issue the moment the class began on Monday. "So, is anyone planning on joining the sports festival?"

Cricket noises.

"Uhhh, me?" It was Kazama.

"What activity do you plan on doing?"

"Basketball."

"See, there's an issue with that. 3-5 doesn't have our own team- we're not allowed to. So you'll have to register with another class that doesn't have enough people." Nagisa dusted off the chalkboard.

"Wait, why don't we have our own team?" Banno suddenly decided to pay attention.

"That's another 'privilege we lost long ago'." Nagisa said, with air quotes punctuating the last part. He then passed a form to Kazama. "So I trust you to coordinate with some other class. Fill this out and give it to the teacher of the class you're registering with by the end of the week."

The midterms were at the end of the week as well. The board wound down. _Four days, three days, two days, one day left_. But Nagisa couldn't even focus on preparing his students for those. Nagisa's mind was such a scramble that he'd honestly forgotten about those until now. He feared he would fail his class due to his lack of long-term planning. That whole week was filled with last minute cram sessions that lasted a few hours. Surprisingly many students showed up to those.

Nagisa was now clutching his temples, sitting in his room in the morning hours of Friday, October 20th. Once again, all he had left to do was to wait and cross his fingers.

* * *

On the following Monday, the scores for the midterms were on Nagisa's desk.

Shigeki Aida, 57th place. Yoshio Azuki, 73rd place. Hiro Izumoto, 76th place. Ichiro Kagato, 77th place. Mamoru Kazama, 68th place. Kotori Kasegawa, 70th place. Kimiya Shisaki, 51st place. Konosuke Takemura, 75th place. Yukito Tsukuda, 55th place. Kentaro Toshima, 38th place. Moritaka Hamada, 72nd place. Hayata Banno, 80th place.

A loud "Yay!" erupted from the classroom, and high-fives were thrown.

It was Shisaki who brought them all back to earth. "Yeah but Toshima is still the only one of us who got in the top fifty..."

"Oh, don't worry about the top fifty thing anymore." Nagisa shook his hand _no_. "What matters is your personal improvement. How much you've grown since your last exam, what subjects you've improved in, what subjects you still need help in... Don't fret about comparing to others. You've all jumped forward a few spots. That's what's important." Filing the grades away in the cabinet, Nagisa cracked open his copy of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. "Okay, who wants to read for Oberon?"

* * *

Now that midterms were done with, the sports festival was the hot upcoming event that filled everyone's minds. Nagisa hoped he wouldn't be asked to do anything for it at the last minute.

But it seemed the administration was not done hazing him yet. An email in his inbox Wednesday night read:

 _Dear Shiota-san,_

 _We are aware that this is last-minute, but we were curious if you would be willing to volunteer for the sports festival on Friday 10/27. We are sorry that we are requesting this, but Yamakawa-sensei, who was planning on being the referee for the second-years' foot race, has had a family emergency and must drive out to Osaka immediately. He will not return for the rest of the week._

 _Thank you in advance for your time,_

 _Principal Gakuto Akino_

Nagisa almost took it as a challenge. Still not sure who the "we" was, he typed back.

 _Principal Akino,_

 _Yes, I would be willing to take Yamakawa-san's place. Exactly what am I requested to do and when should I be there?_

 _Best,_

 _Nagisa Shiota_

* * *

Nagisa wrote on the board the next morning. _Thursday, October 26_ _th_ _._ He debated starting a countdown to finals, but ultimately decided it was a bit too early.

The door slid open, and his first student came in.

"Ohaiyo, Shiota-sensei." He took his seat towards the back.

"Oh, hello Kazama. Did you manage to figure you what you're doing for the sports festival?"

"Yes! I'm playing basketball with 3-4's team. A few of those guys remember me, from when I was on the team…" The seventeen year-old sounded wistful, staring out the window.

"You used to be on a team?" Nagisa kept rewriting the date on the board until it looked perfect.

"Was I ever. And I was pretty damn good at it too. But then…"

"Then what?"

"Eh, it isn't much of a story. I was a dick, and I didn't study, so I got demoted to 3-5, and with it I lost the right to be on the team." There was a short pause, and then Kazama continued. "Have you noticed how we haven't won a single game this year? Now I'm not saying it's because I'm not on the team, but…"

"They've won three. And I thought you were placed here because of your fight with Toshima?"

"Winning three is just as good as winning zero, if you're not winning them all what's the point? What I'm saying is, we did better when I was allowed on the team. And to answer your question, a lot of things went into my placement here. That's the case for most of us."

Nagisa decided to ignore his last statement- it made perfect sense that there were multiple factors that went into being put into the special placement class. Most of these kids had more than one flavor of dysfunction. The issue at hand right now was his arrogance.

Nagisa smirked. "Don't be so full of yourself. You may be good at basketball, but I'm sure so are many other students at this school. You might be surprised tomorrow, who knows what the third year class of Paradise High has in store?"

Kazama snorted. The rest of the class gradually came in, and class started for the day.

* * *

"Hey Akari?" Nagisa called out to the living room while he was preparing dinner. The smell of salmon and teriyaki sauce floated all throughout the apartment.

"Yes?" Akari sat up on the couch.

"Your birthday is coming up. What should I get you?" Nagisa walked into the living room.

"Hmm..." Akari was resting her legs on the coffee table. "I could do with another heating pad."

 _But that's not a gift_ , the expectant father thought to himself. She was just saying that because money was tight for him with the new baby and all. He'd have to come up with something outside of the box.

Nagisa thought about the gift all the next day. Flowers would die, chocolate would be devoured within seconds, and jewelry wasn't really in his budget right now. There were numerous baby items they needed right now, but the gift should be for _Akari_ , not for their baby.

The cute blue-haired man went through the events of the last year in his head. He needed to find something to give Akari that encapsulated his feelings for her over the past year. Something that represented all the time they spent together, how they held each other when they cried, and the new life they were bringing into the world.

Nagisa crushed an orange crunchy leaf underfoot on the walk to school. What really he wanted to do was propose to Akari. That would certainly encapsulate all that they went through together for the past year, and longer. He could even picture the look on her face when he would drop down on one knee, and ask those four little words.

And the wedding itself... He pictured one in a big cathedral with stained-glass windows and pews full of people, like they had in the west. Akari in a big white dress. If they waited a few years, Kaede could be the flower girl. Maybe when Akari tossed the bouquet, Okuda would be the one to catch it.

But Akari would probably want a small wedding in private, so as not to attract the attention of the paparazzi. He would be happy with that too. She might wear that same dress she wore on the night he kissed her to distract her from the tentacles. Maybe one or two people would be the witnesses…

But Akari deserved more than just a proposal. Well, he had two more weeks to think about it. Nagisa, sighing, trudged onward to school.

* * *

The morning was over, Friday afternoon was finally here. The sports festival had begun, and there was thankfully no sign of the criminal duo themselves. In fact, there was no sign of anyone Nagisa knew all that well. He was hoping to see Kawaguchi, but he had too many students to tutor to attend. The only people Nagisa felt entirely comfortable talking to were Kazama…. And Akino.

The latter of whom approached him, smiling, and tossed him a bottle of water. "I knew you'd rise to the challenge. Anyways, they need you over by the track at about 4:30. It's pretty straightforward, just shoot the gun the moment it becomes 4:30, and record how long it takes the first person to pass the finish line." He also handed him a stopwatch and a flare gun.

The blue-haired man closely observed the second-year students as they prepared for the foot race, as some of them might be his students next year. Some seemed cool and confident; Nagisa guessed that those weren't the ones who'd be placed into 3-5 next year. The ones shaking with nervousness, they were the likely candidates. Nagisa remembered what it was like, to have the feeling of failure haunting him all throughout the hallways of the school. He couldn't look anyone in the eye, he felt he wasn't worthy. Until Koro-sensei taught him that it was okay to fail, that there was hope for the future…

Nagisa looked towards the sky. _Koro-sensei… Am I doing your legacy justice? Are you proud of me? Are you here with me right now, fussing over my students like they were your own-_

The bluenette was torn out of his reverie by a tap on his shoulder. He instinctively spun around and got into a defensive stance, only to be greeted with the sight of his student.

"Oh, hello Kazama. The basketball game starts at 4:30 too, right?"

"Yeah. Toshima, Hamada, and Kotori even came to cheer me on." He ran his fingers through his hair.

Nagisa smiled, his class was being supportive of one another. "I'm quite pleased to hear that."

"So am I. I can't wait to win!"

"Give them hell." Nagisa gave his student a thumbs up.

* * *

At 4:25, the second years were at their places and assumed the appropriate stance to break into a run at any minute. At 4:28, Nagisa made the announcement that the race would begin in two minutes. Of course, he had to scream that, as no one had given him a megaphone or access to the intercom. But at least his audience seemed to take him seriously and listened rather than telling him that the elementary school was a few blocks downtown.

And finally at 4:30 sharp, Nagisa shot off the flare gun into the sky. All fifteen students took off and sprinted along the oval, heading towards the finish line. Nagisa's eyes followed them, just in case anyone tried to start anything.

But this foot race went smoothly. No one tried to trip anyone else, no one fell over or had a medical emergency, and the contestants crossed the finish line one by one. The winner was a shy-seeming, quiet girl who stretched alone by the wall before the race. Her face was absolutely glowing when Nagisa handed her her blue ribbon.

Now that the foot race was done, Nagisa had no other obligations left to do, and it was only 4:35. So his options were to either go home, or to stay and watch the basketball game Kazama was in. Deciding to do the latter, the short man headed towards the building.

The gymnasium, which only a week ago was full of tables, chairs, and students stressing out over the infuriating slips of paper that were midterm exams, now looked like a normal gymnasium. The basketball court was on the far end, and Nagisa headed towards there. He saw Hamada, Kasegawa, and Toshima. Deciding to be a little bit of a pain in the ass (he's the successor of Koro-sensei after all, he's obligated to make his students cringe a bit), he plopped right down next to them on their picnic blanket. They didn't even notice, they just chatted on.

"He's one of my best friends and I want his team to win, but he just hasn't been practicing since he got the boot from the team." Toshima flattened out the bumps in the blanket.

"Eh, but you remember how good he was when he was on the team? That kind of talent doesn't just fade. I'm sure his team will win-" Hamada stopped abruptly when he heard breathing to the right of him. He swung around to find his sensei, sitting down and smiling, bright-blue eyed.

"So you're watching the game too?"

"Of course I am. I care about my students' extracurricular activities. That's what teachers do."

"Maybe I should clarify: You're watching the game _with us_?" Kasegawa snarked.

"If I don't make you cringe, I'm not doing my job." Nagisa laughed.

The game started out as fair as could be, with neither 3-4 nor 3-3 scoring a single point within the first quarter. Toshima whispered explanations that a few of 3-4's team were in the school's basketball team, but _all_ of 3-3's team were seasoned athletes. When the second quarter began with a big kid from 3-3 scoring the first point, Nagisa had some idea of how the rest of this game was going to go. And indeed it did, quarters went by without Kazama scoring a single point, and his team was beaten by 5 to 3.

The disappointment was obvious by the features on his student's face. Nagisa swiftly arose, ready to give a pep talk to Kazama when needed. He was stopped when Toshima made an X with his forearms.

"As someone who's been Kazama's friend for four years now, back off and give him a chance to be alone. Especially considering that I heard about the little warning you gave him yesterday morning. He's gonna feel like you're rubbing it in."

"Yeah, let us handle Kazama." Hamada folded up the picnic blanket. "We'll call up Kagato and Izumoto and shoot bottle rockets to blow off steam or something."

But Nagisa decided to be stupid and wait for Kazama outside the gym.

When the brunette in question appeared, Nagisa held out his hand. "See, it'll be fine, you have plenty of time to practice for the next-" His words were cut off when his pupil whipped at basketball directly at him. It grazed his left leg, and bounced back across the courtyard. It was the first time any of Nagisa's students managed to land a hit on him, but neither thought about that at the moment.

"… You bastard. This is exactly what you wanted, isn't it? For me to lose, so you can rub in your little lessons about integrity." Kazama muttered, it was barely audible. Then, he jogged away toward the direction of the train station.

His companions soon walked out of the building as well.

"What did we tell you?" Hamada shook his head.

Nagisa looked at the ground. They were right. He should have listened.

A high-pitched sigh came from Kasegawa. "Well, I think _we_ should go after him. And by the way, Shiota-sensei," She turned towards him. "Have you seen a master key to the school anywhere around here?"

Nagisa decided the best policy was to play stupid. "What key?"

"You know, my…" The teenaged girl blushed with the horrific realization that she just hinted at her possession of valuable school property to a teacher. "Nevermind."

But little to her knowledge, Kasegawa's master key sat in the drawers of Nagisa's nightstand, locked tightly. And there it would remain. It had to, before it fell into someone else's hands.


	24. Chapter 24

**Hello all. Happy Friday the Thirteenth. Or rather, I was supposed to post this on Friday the Thirteenth, but my computer charger chose then to not work... Anyway, enjoy this Halloween-themed chapter.**

* * *

"Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time."

Nagisa facepalmed hearing this from Kagato, who was possibly his most difficult student.

"So you cut school to break into an abandoned amusement park in Yokohama, brought a number of weapons that could legally be classified as deadly, and sent photos to the whole class… To chase a guy who threatened to beat you up for pocket money."

"Yes, that is correct." The troubled teen nodded.

"What part of that seemed like a good idea? You got _arrested_. In broad daylight no less. And you had them call me, in the middle of the school day?" Nagisa couldn't believe that he was having this conversation, after school, when he was tired from a long and stressful day and just wanted to go home to Akari and a homecooked meal.

"My mom would've killed me."

Nagisa shook his head. His blue hair fluttered. "Well, I'm not gonna kill you, but I wasn't gonna pick you up or pay bail. You're lucky your dad is the chief of police, or else they wouldn't have taken pity on you."

Kagato tried to slap Nagisa. His sensei dodged. "My hearing is in January."

"By then I hope you'll have picked out a college, if not a career path. It's just you and Azuki." Nagisa shooed Kagato out of the room, locked it up, and walked directly home.

* * *

Akari was sitting on the floor of the living room, cross-legged, staring at the pumpkins Nagisa picked up at the store yesterday. "Nagisa!" She got right up and ran towards her baby's daddy. "I got so lonely without you all day. Did you see the text I sent?"

"No." Nagisa checked his phone to see a wall of text about how she made all the rice and Karma, Okuda, Sugino and Kanzaki were coming over tomorrow. She'd invited them.

"Okay. That actually makes me happy. It'll be nice to spend time with friends, after the day I've had." Nagisa took off his coat and shoes and gave Akari a hug.

"Oh? What happened?"

"Well, Kazama still won't speak to me after the event on Friday, Kagato skipped school to get arrested and had the police look up my number and call me, and most of my students failed the quiz I gave out this morning." Nagisa went to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom to find something for his headache.

"I'll draw a bath for you. Nice and warm, since it's cold out. I can't believe it's already October 30th."

"Thanks, Akari. I can't believe it either, yet I've still got students acting like this. Break is over." He began to take his clothing off as Akari filled up the bathtub with warm, bubbly water.

Akari then went into the kitchen to fix dinner.

* * *

"Nagisa? Nagisa!?" Akari burst into the bathroom ten minutes later to find her boyfriend playing with a rubber duck.

"Ahh! Akari please knock next time!"

"Oh, don't be embarrassed." She chided playfully. "Anyways, you have to see the news!" And with that, Nagisa rinsed off, dried himself, and walked out in a towel.

"… The details as of now are unknown. Multiple eyewitnesses report a man, about 180 centimeters, stalking the neighborhood with a steak knife chanting "Gonna get one of you!" endlessly. But the police still have yet to catch the man or ascertain his identity. If any viewers see anything, call 110."

Nagisa caught his breath, and looked over at an equally nervous Akari. She reacted quickly. "Let's make sure all the doors and windows are locked."

They promptly did so, and all were secured. But if this guy had a steak knife, he also probably had other weapons that he could use to smash windows. And if this guy was 180 centimeters, he may have the physical strength to overpower them both. If only Koro-sensei was still around. He'd save them from this mess, and thwart the bad guy.

Nagisa and Akari both realized that longing was ridiculous. They were twenty-three, and almost twenty-two, respectively. They had to be adults, and protect themselves.

Akari armed herself with a glass vase that was lying around, and Nagisa grabbed the candle sitting on the coffee table. Autumn leaves scented. The coffee table was then pushed in front of the door. Nagisa finally remembered that he wasn't dressed yet, and went to get changed into something he didn't mind getting dirty or bloody if the need arose.

Nagisa was grateful that he and Akari continued their training long after graduating from E Class, as did all of their classmates. The sessions with Karasuma ended around the time they all graduated from college, because they had no more time to spare with their new jobs. The former assassins racked their brains for the skills they learned. Ready, aim, lock on… But no guns this time. _Anything can be a blade if you sharpen it enough,_ the tiny bluenette clutched his candle as if his life depended on it.

The couple sat there, ready to pounce, for the next hour, keeping one eye on the news. Akari left intermittently to finish making the food.

When dinner was done, both went into the dining room. Nagisa sat where he could keep an eye on the door. The salmon teriyaki was aromatic and wonderful, and the rice was perfectly cooked.

The very cautious Nagisa was still quite paranoid, but his fears were somewhat calmed by the fact that it was reported fifteen minutes ago that the mysterious man was on the other side of town. And just when Nagisa and Akari felt like they could breathe, there was a loud screech that pierced through the entire building.

"What was that!" Nagisa shot up. Akari grabbed her phone.

Nagisa stood, debating what to do. He took a long look at Akari, then at the door. The scream sounded again, and it seemed to be getting closer. Soon it echoed down the hallways downstairs, reverberating up to them. It sounded like a child.

Dad mode activated. Nagisa took a look at Akari again, who nodded in unspoken understanding. "I'll call the police, and hold things down here." She armed herself with more weapons: a broom, a tv remote, and Koro-sensei's book of advice.

Nagisa climbed over the coffee table and exited the door (Akari was careful to lock the door behind him). The hall was now empty and silent. The blue-haired man crept along in the direction that the scream had been heading towards.

But there was still no more noise. In fact, there was no noise until Nagisa accidentally stepped on something soft and squishy. Earning a bit of a yelp, there were more frantic footsteps down the hall. Nagisa looked down to see his most difficult student.

Oh how the rage coursed through his veins. A teen shouldn't be out when there's a possible killer on the loose! "Ichiro Kagato! What are you doing here?"

"I-I just chased the bastard out of my mom's apartment! He lead me here, and I tripped!" He dusted off his clothes. "What are _you_ doing here!?"

"I _live_ here!" Nagisa ran off, chasing the culprit, with his student following him.

"How can a high school teacher afford to live here?" The teenager panted between breaths as they chased the villain.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He saved the rest of his breath for running. He also considered the fact that it was _Kagato_ screaming like a child.

Soon they found themselves in the lobby of the building. The room was empty which was strange at this time of night, even on a Monday. This place was usually bustling.

It was too quiet. Kagato opened his mouth to say something, but Nagisa quickly put his hand over it. Karasuma's training went over this. If a room is too quiet, it's bad news.

Nagisa, still gripping the candle, padded softly around the lobby. He looked behind the concierge's desk, to find him curled over in fear. Approaching him, Nagisa patted his shoulder reassuringly. Suddenly a clamoring was heard in the other room Nagisa's attention was drawn there, and he proceeded.

Kagato knew his teacher wouldn't appreciate a student of his putting themselves in unnecessary danger, but he followed and flanked him anyway.

He was amazed how his sensei managed to be completely silent while walking. Once again, just like that day when he confronted the new teacher and was defeated in front of the whole class, Kagato suspected that there was something beneath Shiota-sensei's cute and cheery exterior.

The clamoring stopped for a second, but Nagisa did not let his guard down. As he could tell that their target was going to turn around and notice them, he grabbed his student and pulled them both behind the maintenance desk. He prepared to use his weapon.

Nagisa was relieved, for it seemed that the target didn't notice them, which made it easier to defuse and disarm the threat. But just because the universe liked having fun with them, Kagato sneezed that moment.

The target ran right towards them and ran around the desk. When Nagisa was presented with him, He dropped the accidentally dropped the candle. Thinking quickly, he prepared to use the clap stunner.

Suddenly, the villain fell with a _whack_ on the head with a broom. He grunted loudly and hit his head on the floor, passing out. Nagisa's most difficult student was shocked to see a heavily pregnant Haruna Mase standing atop the body, pinning the guy's head down with a broom.

Kagato's jaw was wide open. "Ha-Haruna-sama!"

"No." Akari giggled. "I'm flattered you think that, though. Remember me from the art sale? I'm Akari, Shiota-sensei's girlfriend. And this," She rubbed her stomach "Is Kaede."

Kagato still bowed very deeply. "I-I'm quite thankful. How did you do that with that... belly?" He pointed in fascination.

"She's an amazing woman, that's how." Nagisa breathed as he stared at her.

Seconds later, the police broke the door down and surrounded the knife-wielding man.

Kimura, now a fully-fledged police officer, seemed delighted to see his old classmates and waved to them while using the other hand to handcuff the criminal.

As the strange man was escorted out by the cops, he shot the trio a dirty look. The student dared to stick his tongue out.

Nagisa panted, his heart rate slowing down. "So, your mom lives here?"

Kagato scrunched up his face. "No. She lives way downtown. I chased the thing all the way from sixth street."

 _There_! Wow. That was the worst part of town. On the rare occasion that Nagisa actually drove, he'd avoid that part of town. He went there once and it was full of graffiti and most of the windows were broken. "That's a long way away."

"He stole her wedding ring. I had to follow."

"Ouch. That's awful."

"Yeah, speaking of which, I'm gonna follow the police and see if they'll give me that back." And with that, the high schooler left the building.

Nagisa's phone buzzed. He checked his phone to see twelve messages from his class.

 _Shiota-sensei we're coming to help Kagato._

 _Shiota-sensei please join us, you're good with disarming people._

 _Did you hear about the armed guy on tv? Well he broke into Kagato's house and stole something. Please help us._

Nagisa went outside to find all of his pupils crowded around the entrance with pipes and various 'weapons'. They came to help their classmate. Heading outside, Nagisa told them, "The threat has been neutralized."

* * *

Nagisa and Akari were back in their flat, getting ready for bed that night.

"How did you know where to go?" Naigsa inquired, brushing her hair gently.

"Instinct, I guess? I just sort of new where you were and that you needed me." The black-haired actress chuckled. The pair changed into warm, flannel pajamas and went to bed.

The next morning, the news channel was abuzz with developments on the case. Nagisa buttered his toast as he listened to the television.

The guy was thirty-five. An office worker in the outskirts of Tokyo (though he lived in Kunugigaoka). He had no living family and made no attempts to resist arrest. He also immediately surrendered all the things he stole, so the goal wasn't monetary. When he was asked why he did it, he just said it was because he wanted to scare people for Halloween. Well, if that was his goal it certainly worked…

To the joy of both former E Class students, neither of them had been captured on the police's video. After eating breakfast with Akari, Nagisa went to work.

* * *

Nagisa wrote on the board. _October 31_ _st_ _._ _52 days 'til finals_. He promptly erased the last part as soon as he wrote it. It still seemed too early for that. "Class," He cleared his throat. The students looked up.

"I hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween, no matter what you plan on doing. Just, know that I'm very proud of you all. You have some very unusual talents, and are hiding unique traits and abilities. It's a really a shame that the administration doesn't see that."

 _Especially you, Kagato, I've misjudged you._ Nagisa kept that particular thought to himself.

"Maybe we're all here to prove them wrong!" Banno's voice erupted from the back.

Nagisa twirled a finger through his hair. "Maybe we are, kids. Maybe we are."

* * *

The living room of the apartment was decorated with jack-o-lanterns. The student teacher put his phone on the charger, as it had run out of power due to the frantic texts he received from every family member, concerned about him, Akari, and the baby.

The doorbell rung. In came Karma. "Your concierge let me in." He took off his shoes. He held the door open for Okuda, who was dressed in the same witch costume she wore in that play they performed for Matsukata's daycare seven years ago.

"Manami-chan!" Akari emerged from their bedroom, clad in the same white flowy dress she also wore in that play.

"I guess you planned this?" Nagisa scratched his head.

"Yep! It was to surprise both of you!" Akari kissed Nagisa's cheek. "It's not flattering on me right now, though." The 'princess' placed her hands on her large belly.

"Just nine more weeks 'til we meet her." Nagisa smiled. He turned to Karma and Okuda. "Make yourself at home. We've got red bean jelly and mochi in the kitchen. When are Sugino and Kanzaki coming over?"

"They just said they're on their way." Akari looked at her phone, then went and got the treats from the kitchen.

Nagisa noticed that Karma and Okuda were holding hands behind their backs. Nagisa saw an opening. It was time the tables had turned. "Hey, what are you two doing this weekend?"

Okuda blushed and reverted to her stuttering ninth-grade self. "We-we-we were gonna see th-that new movie. Y'know, the one with that guy who co-starred in some of Kayano's movies-"

"Aw! Together? Isn't that a romance film? How cute!"

Karma's face was red as a tomato. "Nagisa, you ass... Anyway, the girls put us to shame. We aren't even dressed up!"

"Yeah, I couldn't think of anything I wanted to be." Nagisa laughed.

"Same here. I can't wait for my next vacation. If I hear one more word from the other bureaucrats about taxes or our foreign policy, I'll faint."

The doorbell soon rung again, and it was Kanzaki, soon followed by Sugino. They weren't in costume either. Bags were visible under Kanzaki's- no doubt from working all night shifts at the nursing home. "She's still the most beautiful woman on the planet," Sugino whispered to his male friends under his breath when his crush complained about it.

Sugino seemed to have gained a significant amount of muscle since their last encounter- One of the perks of being a professional athlete. "So Nagisa, how's teaching going?"

Nagisa poured out some green tea. "It has its ups and downs, but I really know I picked the right job."

"I'm sure you're making Koro-sensei proud." His friends all nodded in agreement.

They all sat down on the floor and put in a horror movie to watch. One that Mimura recommended. As the first guy got chased by the bad guy, Nagisa smiled to himself and looked outside at the falling orange leaves. Seven months into teaching, and he still didn't regret a second of it.

* * *

 **AN: 110 is Japan's emergency number, like 911 is in the US. 180 centimeters is almost 6 feet.**


	25. Chapter 25

**So I edited the previous chapter, because I apparently can't math.**

 **AN: Mono no aware is a Japanese term meaning 'awareness of the impermanence of things'. I don't think there's an appropriate translation in English, so that's what I'm calling it.**

 **Also, 100 favorites and 138 follows. I'm breathtaken. I never thought my fic would get this big. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who read this so far.**

 **Anyway, this chapter is like 90% Nagikae fluff. It was so therapeutic to write.  
**

* * *

It was already November 1st. Autumn was now entering its chilly stage. When Nagisa walked to school that morning, he could see his breath. Soon it would be Christmas, soon the New Year, soon the baby's arrival…

He sighed, obscuring his vision in a cloud of his own breath. Akari's birthday was in eight days, and he had hidden her gift in the back of his closet at home. He smiled at the idea of it. She'd love it for sure. He was still debating what to do with the ring he had hidden with it.

The class was hyper today. Throwing pencils and pens at Nagisa. They must have been excited for the upcoming soccer tournament, he figured. Nagisa barely even blinked as he dodged the projectiles. But his lessons on the laws of physics seemed to get through to them, if the grades on the surprise end-of-the-day quiz were anything to go by.

When Nagisa arrived home a few days later, Akari was knitting in the rocking chair, chatting with someone on speaker phone.

"So I left with my friends, but by then there were _two_ cop cars, and we-"

Nagisa recognized that voice on the phone. "Oh, hi Nakamura."

"Nagisa! I was just talking to Kayano about my weekend."

"Sounds like you had fun." Akari laughed. "How's Los Angles? Especially Hollywood!"

"It's… a wild town. You know who the locals are. They're the ones not panicking over the three earthquakes we've had since June. And then there's me, who sleeps through the earthquakes of course." The prankster laughed, then stopped for a moment. "Damn it, I kicked over my nail polish." There was shuffling, presumably to get a towel, and water running. "Huh, and Will and I just replaced the carpets last week… Anyways, how's pregnancy treating you?"

"Just as I thought I was getting used to it, the exhaustion, nausea, mood swings, cravings, and everything came back with a vengeance."

"Thank goodness my womb is as vacant as can be." The blonde chuckled from an ocean away. "Anyways, I gotta go to bed. It's midnight here and I have to be to work by six tomorrow to chase kids all day."

Nagisa looked at the floor of the living room. It was full of everything Kaede would need. A crib sat in the corner, lined with pink blankets and stuffed animals sat at its feet. Clothes were neatly stored away in a bin underneath. Rattles and pacifiers were in their packages, tucked in their own bin. All was ready… Except for one thing.

Nagisa looked around. They had been renovating quite a bit. Since their flat had only one bedroom, that left the question of where the baby's room would be. He and Akari had decided to request to the complex that they build an addition, as they did not have any neighbors (they were in fact the only ones in this wing of the building, for now). They had hired Chiba to design it and Itona to build it. Both would arrive this weekend to continue the project. Nagisa felt a bit stupid for waiting so long to figure it out, but both his former classmates insisted that one room would not be a long project to complete and would be done in a few weeks.

He wandered to said room. It was bare and empty. He got lost in his thoughts. How long had it been like this? How long since the assassination classroom? Over seven years. He thought back, feeling mono no aware. On that day when Koro-sensei stepped foot (er, tentacle?) in their shack of a classroom, Nagisa would never have guessed that he'd be here, doing this and teaching a class, in seven and a half years. Actually, if the Nagisa of that day had been asked about where he saw himself in seven years, he would have probably answered blown to smithereens with the rest of the planet.

What did Koro-sensei and Aguri think of them now, while watching them from Heaven? Sometimes Nagisa felt as if they spoke to him. They were proud, he was sure of it.

Nagisa sensed that Akari had walked up next to him. "Akari, dear?" Words spilled out of his mouth.

"Yes?"

"Do you ever feel like they speak to us?"

Akari didn't even need him to extrapolate, she knew who the 'they' were. "Lots of times. My sister visits me in my dreams a lot."

Nagisa anticipated this answer. "To say what?"

"Give me advice on work, on relationships… and I tell her, 'Nee-san, you're dead!'" Akari took a shallow breath before finishing the sentence. "… And she says, 'Yes, but that doesn't mean we can't talk.'" A few tears rolled down the black-haired girl's cheek. Nagisa wiped it away, and embraced her. Soon he began to cry with nostalgia as well.

* * *

The next week had begun. After a weekend spent working with Chiba and Itona to build the new room, Nagisa was back at school again. He decided it was now time to start the countdown again. _November 6_ _th_ _. 46 days 'til finals._ He looked around. Once again, all were present and on time. In contrast to last week, the day went smoothly. In Japanese class, they had started reading _The Tale of Genji_. He also assigned a research paper on it, due in early December. "I look forward to seeing what you all come up with." He told his class.

The only thing even close to anything that could be called an interruption was when the intercom boomed at around noon. "Kimiya Shisaki, please come to the front office." The student obeyed the unidentified voice and left the room, only to come back twenty minutes later. Nagisa thought nothing of it and went on with the lesson.

* * *

The day was soon November 9th. Nagisa was at the apartment getting everything ready, while Akari was out shopping with Okuda and Kanzaki. Dinner was on the table, and the homemade caramel pudding was sitting in the fridge.

Nagisa heard the sound of the door opening. She had arrived. He dashed into the living room to greet her. "Happy birthday, Akari." She accepted his embrace wholeheartedly. They walked, hand-in-hand, into the dining room where the dinner of yakisoba noodles that Nagisa had made for them sat (Akari had requested it that morning). It was delicious, the award-winning actress commented while wiping her mouth off.

The doorbell rang. It was Satoshi. He had been over quite a lot recently. Without haste, he kissed his daughter's head. "My baby girl's twenty-two already!" It was obvious he was feeling old. "And my older one's thirty-four…" He added under his breath. No one else noticed it.

Nagisa smiled. He still remembered what his reaction was when Akari confided in him that she had lied about her birthdate on her application to Kunugigaoka, and that she was actually a year younger than the rest of E Class. That came as such a surprise. After the tentacles had been removed, she could keep up with everyone else just fine. Nothing about her (aside from her size) ever screamed that she was younger than them. Nagisa guessed that that was just because of how good of an actress she was.

Satoshi gave her his gift. A big leather-bound binder with many cute little drawings carved into it, in which to place her scripts. He also handed her a plush doll. "For my granddaughter." He explained, hands trembling. Akari didn't recognize this, but it was Aguri's when she was a baby.

Okuda, Kanzaki, and Sugino had all given their gifts earlier that day or when they were visiting on Halloween. They all too, left gifts for Kaede. Karma rubbed Nagisa's head, ruffling his blue hair. "You and Kayano are finally growing up! You're both fifteen now!" Sarcasm dripped from every syllable. "Well, here's some stuff for your teen pregnancy."

"Haha. Very funny." Nagisa brushed out his hair, taking a moment to appreciate the size difference between himself, Karma, and Akari. It really was like Karma had grown for all three of them.

Nagisa decided it was time for his gift. He went to the back of the closet in their room and admired the shiny blue wrapping paper he bound it in. Underneath it was a smaller, unwrapped box that he stuck in his breast pocket. Walking into the dining room, he saw his girlfriend laughing with her father and their friend.

"Akari," He breathed.

She turned her gaze on him. Her brown eyes were the most beautiful he'd ever seen.

He gently handed her the box. "Here, for you."

Akari unwrapped it. It was a set of pearl earrings, to match the necklace he'd given her for White Day. Akari gasped.

"It's beautiful." She removed them from the box to put them on.

"Wait," Nagisa stopped her. "Look at them closely."

Puzzled, she did so. They were engraved with tiny lettering.

 _4/2/15_ on one. _3/13/16_ on the other.

Once again, she did not need to ask what it signified. She knew. The date she had transferred into E Class, the day she met him, and the day of their graduation from the assassination classroom. When she saw, she gasped again. "I love it." She kissed him, with a ferocity that made Satoshi a bit uncomfortable. They then devoured the pudding.

* * *

Now that the guests had all left, Nagisa and Akari were left staring out the window of their flat. The sun had already set and the night was illuminated by the moon and the stars. Nagisa found the constellation that looked like Koro-sensei again. He took it as a good omen.

"That was wonderful. Thank you Nagisa." She got up to grab a broom, but Nagisa stopped her.

"Let me do it."

"Thanks."

Soon it became clear he was deliberating something. Akari got up, brushed the crumbs off of her dress, and went to go sit down in the rocking chair. The blue-haired man mustered up all the strength he could and took the box out of his pocket.

"… Akari." He dropped the broom and approached her. She stopped rocking. What could he be planning, she thought to herself.

"We've been through so much together in the past seven and a half years. We held each other when we cried, we stared directly into the face of danger side by side, and when we reunited a year and a half ago, I knew my soulmate had returned. It was just the most wonderful feeling." Nagisa looked into her eyes again. They became more and more full of love with each word he said. "I was stupid to not realize what was between us for so long."

He took her hand, and got on one knee. "Akari Yukimura, will you marry me?"

Then came the waterworks. She cried for the second time in a week. She wrapped her arms around him. "Nagisa." She hiccuped, trying to catch her breath. "I love you so much. I've been waiting since that day in the Japanese silver grass field to hear you say that." Then there was a sniffle, and she caught her breath.

"Yes. Of course I'll marry you." The ring slid right on.


	26. Chapter 26

**Happy Halloween. I've emerged from my witch's cauldron to bring you this.**

* * *

Monday. _November 13. Thirty-nine days 'til finals._ The board ominously counted down.

Nagisa sat in his seat, watching all twelve faces he knew so well trickle in. He couldn't suppress a smile. He'd spent the entire weekend doting on his _fiancée_. The word made him giddy. And he looked around at the classroom. The repairs were finally finished. The room looked brand new, there were no broken items, no dirt or dust, no more insects skittering around on the ground.

If Nagisa could use one word to describe his class as of recent, it would be… very imbalanced. They were bouncing off the walls one day and totally sedated the next. Was there something in the water in this damn town? Whatever, maybe it was just teen hormones. He remembered being that age. Oh boy, the time he and Akari went to the sweet shop and he couldn't think straight the whole time because her short skirt was too distracting… Ah, high school.

Nagisa's phone buzzed. He looked at it, it was an email from the disciplinary committee.

 _Dear Nagisa Shiota,_

 _3-5 student Kimiya Shisaki must be sent to the front office today at one p.m. Please make sure he gets there._

 _Best,_

 _Disciplinary committee of Paradise High School_

Huh? He didn't get there the last time he allegedly went? Nagisa made it a point to talk to Shisaki during their lunch period.

Pulling him aside, Nagisa handed him a paper copy of the email he received. "Care to explain?"

"I swear I have a good reason." The student suddenly became very interested in the ground.

"Well, why didn't you go? Where did you go instead? What were you in trouble for?" Nagisa tilted his head to the left.

"Reasons." He muttered.

After the weekend he had, Nagisa had nothing but patience today. "What reasons?"

"Did I fucking stutter?" Shisaki returned to his seat.

 _Hmm…_ The student teacher was left with his thoughts. This was another puzzle to solve. He was facing the same issues with Azuki and Aida. Some of his students were very secretive. He had been spoiled by his interactions with Toshima, Hamada, and Kasegawa, who trusted him immediately.

It was now almost one p.m. Time for Shisaki to go to the front office. Nagisa knew if he just sent him, they'd have a repeat of last week. And if he asked another student to walk him, they might be sympathetic to his issue (whatever it may be). So, against his better judgement, he walked Shisaki to the office. He was sure this was an embarrassment to his student, but Nagisa couldn't think of another solution. "If I come back to a chalkboard full of crude drawings of my assassination, I'll assign double the homework." With that said, the blue-haired effeminate man took his bag (so it couldn't be used as a weapon against him) and left with Shisaki in tow.

The tension could have been cut with a knife. Shisaki kept giving him side glances of the _go to hell_ type. But he looked away whenever Nagisa turned his head to look at him. They arrived at their destination, the front office.

Shisaki stood for a moment, breathing deeply. Then he walked in, looking terrified.

Nagisa stayed for a moment, to make sure that Shisaki didn't bolt from the room. He heard a voice he didn't recognize. "Ahh, Mr. Shisaki. I'm quite glad to that see you decided to show up today. This is regarding…"

As much as Nagisa wanted to know exactly what this was about, he couldn't leave his class alone for too long. So back he went.

The room was covered in shredded paper, broken lead, and the bookshelf was pushed over. Kagato and Tsukuda were in a screaming fight, Aida and Azuki were playing monkey in the middle with Banno, and Kazama had evidently fallen over and took his desk with him. They did indeed obey his request, no crude drawings of anyone were on the board.

"I was gone for five minutes…" The teacher rubbed his temples. "Okay. You're all going to clean this up. Or double the homework all week."

Shisaki came back an hour later. Once again, he looked furious. He refused to even look at his sensei. The class shot him sympathetic looks.

"Uh, I hope everything… went well." Nagisa was fumbling for words. It was true, he did hope everything went well. But he didn't even know what was happening.

Nagisa decided to do the standard to get to the bottom of this. Cleaning duty for him after school.

"Do I really have to?" Shisaki asked. "The damn room was just fixed. There's not much to clean."

"Oh, this is a different type of cleaning." The student teacher shut the windows, blocking the cold draft. "Cleaning out your soul. Y'know, getting rid of what's pulling you down."

"You sound like a hippy."

"Call it what you want." Nagisa pushed his seat in, then leaned against the desk. "You know exactly what this is about. Why are you getting in trouble?"

"Okay, the jig is up." Shisaki sighed. "I was sent to the office because I threatened to beat up one of the 3-1 students."

Wow. The class with the highest grades in the year. This was giving Nagisa flashbacks.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because he said I'd never amount to anything." The delinquent gave a small shudder. "Me and the rest of 3-5."

Nagisa felt a wave of sympathy. He knew how that felt.

"And how did that make you feel?" Nagisa grazed his fingers across the papers that were handed to him (thesis statements for the upcoming paper), inadvertently giving himself a papercut. Nagisa reached for a first aid kit he kept in his desk.

"What are you, my fucking therapist?" Shisaki raised his eyebrows. "Speaking of therapists, Aida just started seeing the one you recommended back in June."

"I'm surprised he told you about that." The bluenette frowned.

"There are no secrets in 3-5. That's rule one of 3-5. And the second rule of 3-5 is, you don't talk about 3-5."

"Haha." Nagisa pinched the cut in attempt to end the bleeding. "You're telling me all this, yet you seemed the secretive type."

"Only with my own secrets. Everyone else's are fair game. Wanna hear what Kotori does on the weekends?"

"No. That's none of my business." Nagisa applied some antiseptic to the cut, and placed a band-aid on it. "But, really. Did you do that out of hurt? Embarrassment? Anger?"

"Little of column A, little of column B, Little of column C." Shisaki swept the floors. They were quite clean, much to Nagisa's joy.

"Listen. I know what it's like to be in your position. I was in the special placement class in junior high. Everyone just treated us terribly. I heard what you quoted in those exact words many times." Nagisa paused. "Is this how you usually react to hearing things like this?"

"Yeah. And I always get reprimanded for it. The disciplinary committee knows me all too well."

"And what are they going to do to punish you?" Nagisa saw that the sun was already setting.

"Ha!" Shisaki snorted. "As if there's anything they can even do at this point. I'm already in 3-5, the worst they can dish out. I mean, I guess they can call the cops, but the disciplinary committee is too busy with their thumbs up their asses to do that. They just told me to knock it off."

Was the disciplinary committee really that weak? Things were different when Nagisa was in school. "So why, then, were you reluctant to go?"

"Because I'm sick of hearing the same old lecture. Sometimes they even make me apologize to the bastard. Ugh."

* * *

Nagisa met Kawaguchi after school on Wednesday, for the first time in a while. They were in Kawaguchi's room, after his final student had left.

"I'm the teacher of 3-5." He explained when one of Kawaguchi's students gave him a quizzical look.

"I thought you were a student…" The pupil muttered as she walked off.

"And a girl." Her friend added, following her. Nagisa felt a sweatdrop.

"I can't believe how old I'm getting." Kawaguchi sighed, staring out the window. "Did I ever tell you, you're young enough to be my grandson?"

Another pause. "Really?"

"Yes. I wish I knew my grandkids."

"You don't? That's so sad!" Nagisa straightened out the books on his shelf.

"Yeah, I had a rough divorce, she took the kids, and I haven't seen them in almost forty years." He looked wistful.

"… Wow." Nagisa's issues with his students not immediately trusting him seemed small.

"But, I don't want to burden you with my struggles." The old man pushed in his chair. "How's your room? Did you do the repairs?"

"Good as new now. You wouldn't believe how far the money went."

"Did you hear they cleaned up the art room as well?"

"I did. But it's been clean for a while. Months, in fact. Yet they don't want anyone in it. It's still locked most of the time." Nagisa pondered deeply. Time for more investigation. "Has anything like this ever happened before?"

"Well, yeah. Once in '09. There was a vandalism in the chem lab, but they got it cleaned up before any of the students saw what had happened." Kawaguchi sighed. "But it was nothing really exciting. Two punks who thought they were tough. Not a mystery like this."

 _A mystery to you,_ Nagisa struggled to keep his mouth shut. He knew for sure who was behind this. But it would do no good to reveal that just now. He was just a student teacher, fresh out of college. Who would believe him, over the charming and suave Nakagawa? Or the seemingly innocent and shy Shibata? He needed to find some way to stop them himself, or else catch them red-handed…

* * *

It was now Thursday. _November 16_ _th_ _. 36 days 'til finals_. Nagisa wrote it on the board, rubbing his hands together to get rid of the chalk dust. Except, instead of doing that, it went flying everywhere. Nagisa sneezed a few times. An outside observer would deem it cute, but there were no observers to speak of. It was before class started.

He had read his email when he got up that morning. Voting for teacher of the year was about to start. The blue-haired man had overheard that Narayama was automatically disqualified, though he didn't know why. He hadn't seen him since the art show. Maybe the Shibata and Nakagawa duo had something to do with that…

In fact, Nagisa hadn't seen nor heard from Nakagawa or Shibata since the play. He counted his lucky stars, but he still wanted to know what they were up to. And if they came anywhere near Akari, he'd put that assassin training to even more use…

"Shiota-sensei?" Toshima's voice derailed his metaphorical train of thought.

"Huh?" Nagisa hadn't even noticed that his students had walked in and taken their seats within the past 30 seconds. Nor did he notice that he had snapped the chalk in his hand into crumbles while thinking about his suspicions.

"Was it something we did…?" Kagato looked scared.

"Ah, no." Nagisa regained his composure. "Just… Things are happening. Anyway class, open your Chemistry books to page 291. I hope you remember dimensional analysis."

* * *

School had ended for the day, and Nagisa went straight home. The flat was nice and warm, a great change after stepping in from outside. He was now sitting on the couch, reviewing lesson plans for next week.

"Ow!" Akari's voice sounded from the other room.

Nagisa shot right up and dashed towards her. Paternal instinct just seemed to take over recently. Everything was about protecting Akari and the baby. "Is everything okay? Oh my goodness, did you go into labor!?"

Akari laughed a bit. "Kaede's been very active recently." She rested her hands on her belly. "But while you're in here, the future Mrs. Shiota could go for a foot rub…"

* * *

It was Friday morning once more. The key sat on Nagisa's nightstand. He had to keep it safe. No way it could fall into the wrong hands. But he had to figure out what Shibata and Nakagawa were doing, so he placed it carefully in his pocket and went onward to school.

He greeted his students with a big bright smile. They had wisened up though. They knew he was hiding something. He was too over the top happy for the average day. But there were only two who intended to take advantage of this.

Kasegawa and Hamada very much thought alike. Everyone else attributed it to them having been best friends for years. Or maybe it was just the experiences that they had respectively been through that bred a similar mindset. But either way, they shared a glance at the beginning of homeroom, and with that they understood that they had the same idea. And when and where it would be put into action.

The day just dragged on. Nagisa was waiting for his opportunity. He couldn't do it during the lunch break, because he could be caught in front of his students. That couldn't happen. And if he did it before class he may not have been able to start homeroom on time. So that left after school. He didn't assign cleaning duty and just sent his pupils home.

The adorable twenty-three year old headed towards his destination with tunnel vision. The storage room. There was bound to be something there. It was where everything clandestine happened. People just seemed drawn to its secrecy, the hideaway it evidently offered.

The storage room was dark. He unlocked the door, cracked it open, slid in, and shut it tight behind him. Using his phone as a light, he began his search. Pencils, pens, magnifying glasses fell out of tin cans. Old art sat in the corner, waiting to be picked up by their owners. But none of this was meaningful right now. He moved to the corner, where the books were stored and it looked like some props from the play last month were. These were things used frequently by the English and drama teachers, yes? The short man moved around big copies of _Gone with the Wind_ , earning a groan. Even training with Karasuma didn't prepare him to lift that kind of weight.

Something dropped to the floor. It made a loud _thump_. Nagisa picked it up, only to drop it in response to how cold it was. He picked it up again. An iron bar. And it had brown, almost rusty stains on the end of it. Oh crap. He went back in his mind to a conversation overheard between Shibata and Nakagawa. _I have friends in high places. Want one of them to drop by your house? Maybe with a tire iron?_

What to do with this? If he brought it with him, those two would definitely suspect him and would not react kindly. Hell, why was it even left in here as opposed to either of their houses anyway? Was that stain blood?

So Nagisa did what he thought was best and took a picture of the iron with his phone, then placed it back where it came from. He was sure to arrange the books and props in the exact pattern that they were in before (he had taken a picture of that too). Exiting the room hastily, Nagisa caught his breath and headed home. If he was lucky, his suspects wouldn't even know that he had been there.

But luck was not on Nagisa's side today. The key fell out of his pocket without him noticing, and Kasegawa and Hamada were hiding in the corridor for a chance to pounce. They waited until their sensei was out of sight and snatched the key. They didn't know what they expected, but they were satisfied with this result for now. After a round of silent high-fives and fist bumps, the pair went home.

For once, they had gotten the best of the scariest teacher that they had ever had.


	27. Chapter 27

**Hey there. Shameless self-promotion time: I published a new story,** ** _Aftershocks_** **, last Wednesday. It's going to be a collection of one-shots/drabbles. Chapter 1 is for you if you're a Chibahaya fan.**

 **Also happy birthday to Okuda (November 7)!**

* * *

The weekend had finally arrived. The weather no longer allowed for spending time outside, so the student teacher and his lover were all bundled up indoors, in sweaters and blankets.

Nagisa couldn't remember where he put those keys. He was sure they were in his pocket after the infiltration, but where were they now? Oh, crap. He couldn't risk those falling into the wrong hands again. What if the Shibata-Nakagawa duo got them? Or worse, one of his students? They could get implicated in all kinds of trouble. Nagisa got distracted when his phone dinged. He looked at it, it was a text from Toshima.

 **Can you help me with the math homework, Shiota-sensei?**

Nagisa was confused (did students really do work on _Saturdays_?), but texted back.

 **Sure. Where are you right now? And how did you get my number?**

The student responded.

 **I know a guy who knows a guy. And I'm at the library on Third Street.**

Nagisa threw on some clothes suited for being in public, gave his fiancée a kiss, and headed out the door, praying that he'd soon find those keys.

* * *

Sunday morning. The birds had all flown south and there was frost on the ground. Not that it affected the temperature in the flat.

Akari stood in front of the mirror. She patted and rubbed her plump, hard belly. Her breasts had also grown significantly, she couldn't be called Forever Flat anymore. As of today, she was 34 weeks along. She and Nagisa were going to visit the OBGYN tomorrow. She traced her fingers across her engagement ring. _Soon to be_ _Akari Shiota_. She smiled. Like her fiancé, she was distracted by her cellphone. It was a call from her manager.

"Hello? Haruna-sama?" He sounded a bit keyed up.

"Um, hi Yuu-san." Akari tucked her hair behind her ear. "So what's up?"

"Listen, I know you're on medical leave, but you just got this amazing job offer." Akari could hear him shuffling through papers. "I have a way around your little medical issue."

Akari audibly gasped. "But, how do you know what-"

He sighed deeply. "Haruna-sama, I know what's going on. You're pregnant."

Radio silence from Akari. How did he know this? She just told him she had 'medical problems'…

"I could tell from your behavior. I've worked with plenty of pregnant actresses." He sighed. "I understand why you didn't tell me, and I don't hold it against you, but just know that your secret is safe with me."

Akari sighed. Yuu was right. He had been her manager since she was a child. She knew he had her best interests at heart.

"They say they're stage directors that want to break out into the film industry. They specifically requested you to be in their advertisements. " He beamed over the phone. "I did some talking, and they just want to use your face. So the general public won't see your belly, and it'll keep them from getting too suspicious. Wait, you haven't given birth yet, right?"

"Uh, no. Six weeks left." Akari was getting chills up her spine. She had a bad feeling about this. "Who are these guys?"

"They say their names are Shintaro Nakagawa and Fuyuki Shibata. As for the pay-"

Akari dropped the phone. Her heart was pounding. Grabbing it again she ran into the dining room where her fiancé was grading papers. She put the phone on speaker.

"You didn't agree to anything yet, did you?" The award-winning actress was in a frenzy.

"No, I wanted your opinion. And I'm guessing based on your tone that you don't want to."

"No." Akari aggressively shook her head, though her manager couldn't see it. "I'm not feeling up to it." Though her manager had shown her trust, she knew that what was up with that duo was not her secret to tell. So she came up with a semi-true excuse. "Pregnancy feels like a hangover every day. I just want to give birth then raise my daughter for a year, then I'll go back to acting."

"Okay, I understand. Just send me pictures of the baby, okay?"

When that phone call ended, Akari filled Nagisa in on what that mess was about.

"Oh my goodness," Nagisa started to hyperventilate. "What are they even planning with you?"

"I don't know if I even want to know the answer to that, I just don't want it to happen." She breathed shallowly.

Nagisa wrapped her in an embrace. "We need to be even more careful."

Akari nodded, rubbing his silky blue hair. She snuck in a kiss on his shoulder.

Their feet took them to the living room. Akari sat in her rocking chair and went back to knitting booties for their daughter. Nagisa sat down next to her on the floor, resting his head against her legs and reading Koro-sensei's book of advice to live by.

* * *

They next week was largely boring. Nagisa still hadn't found the keys, and the board's counting down to finals became old. So Nagisa thought to spice it up. He added drawings. Monday it was of what the moon looked like after 'Koro-sensei' destroyed it. Tuesday was of E Class's building. Wednesday was the cat that E Class rescued from a tree when they helped out at Matsukata's daycare. Thursday was Akari's giant pudding that the class built to explode. Nagisa now sat at home, pondering what to draw the next day. And it suddenly came it him.

He stood in the classroom at the crack of 7:30 a.m., drawing the picture. He had received some confused comments from the class ("Yeah, I remember that moon. I was ten, not ten weeks.", "What is that weird shack?", "Oh, are we making pudding today?"). Nagisa had always kept the answers vague ("I was just feeling nostalgic", "That's for me to know", " _I'm_ going to make pudding with my fiancée after school today, I don't know what you're doing").

But today's drawing puzzled them the most. A big round head belonging to an octopus-looking thing, beady eyes, and way too many tentacles.

"He looks familiar, wasn't he in our history textbooks a few years ago?"

"If by our history textbooks a few years ago, you mean the news eight years ago, then yes." Shisaki snorted. "That's the guy who blew up to moon!"

"What!?" The class shouted.

"How do you know he blew up the moon?" Nagisa tossed the chalk up in the air and juggled it.

"Well, that's what the news said-" Aida started.

"Don't believe everything you see on the news." Nagisa smiled. "Now, today we will be discussing late Tokugawa era philosophy. Open your books to page 457."

The lesson went on, and Tsukuda threw a paper airplane at Nagisa. Nagisa caught it without even looking. He tried again during Japanese class, then during English. By the time he tried for the fourth time, in Math class, Nagisa was more than a bit annoyed.

"You won't be going to P.E. today. You need to work on your technique." He snapped, immediately feeling a bit of shame at embarrassing his student. But this couldn't just be restlessness. Tsukuda wasn't the restless type. This was an 'assassination' attempt. What a disappointment.

The clock struck 11:30, and the rest of Class 3-5 shuffled off to P.E. Each of them nodded at Tsukuda as they passed by, acknowledging his fate.

Nagisa found himself tapping his fingers on the window, deep in thought. He used the P.E. period to prepare for the second half of the day, and seemed to disappear entirely from the school for that hour. Come to think of it, he hadn't even met their P.E. teacher. He didn't even know the guy's name. Hmm.

"Tsukuda?" He asked, causing his student to jump up out of his seat.

"Y-yes? Am I in trouble?" The blond stuttered.

"What's the P.E. teacher like?" Nagisa didn't even know how to answer that question.

"Eh." Tsukuda shrugged. "Kind of a hardass. But whatever."

"Did I ever tell you about my favorite P.E. teacher?" Nagisa thought he should call Karasuma up soon.

"No."

Nagisa was overwhelmed by another wave of nostalgia. "He actually wasn't trained to be a P.E. teacher."

"In all fairness, I don't think this guy is either." Nagisa's student snarked.

"He was government trained." The sentence seemed to make Tsukuda pause his thoughts. "He did all kinds of cool things. But-"

"What kind of cool things?" He seemed in awe.

"Sorry, but that's classified." The bluenette smiled. "He left it all because we needed him."

"How come _you all_ needed him?"

"That's classified too." The twenty-three year old sat on his desk, swinging his feet back and forth. "Did I ever tell you about the worst P.E. teacher I ever had?"

Tsukuda had no clue where this was going. "No."

"Well, he was a replacement for the guy I mentioned. And he kneed my classmate in the ribs, slapped my other classmate, asked me to fight him with a knife, and then poisoned my classmates to force me to fight him a second time."

"Did you win?" The almost eighteen year old had become accustomed to expect the unexpected from his short sensei.

"I'm not going to say yes, and I'm not going to say no." Nagisa followed every expression on his student's face. "But are you getting the significance of what I'm saying?"

"Hell no. You confuse the hell out of me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one."

"Both of the teachers rose to the occasion when they were needed," Nagisa got off of the desk and walked towards Tsukuda. "But it's just as much _how_ you do so. I asked you to kill me before graduation. You're trying, but not hard enough. I'm not the toughest guy in the world, but even I can easily swat away a paper airplane."

"I was hoping it would knock into something glass on the shelf and injure you-" The special placement student weakly defended.

"Do you see anything glass up there?" Nagisa pointed to the shelf. Indeed, it was full of books and papers.

The blond teen shook his head. "I guess I just wasn't looking hard enough."

"Maybe you weren't. And that was okay this morning." Nagisa resisted the urge to pat him on the head, knowing that that would be seen as an insult. "Try to assassinate me for real now."

The teenager threw a punch. Nagisa dodged it.

He threw more punches. Nagisa continued to duck away effortlessly. He tried to back his sensei into a wall, but the effeminate man just took a step to the side. He grabbed a chair, Nagisa pulled it out of his hands and gracefully set it down.

"Given up yet?" Nagisa asked, not even out of breath.

"Nope!" His student said with resolve, chasing his teacher around the room and utilizing everything within arm's reach as a weapon.

When the rest of the class came in, they found a room full of scattered school supplies and broken chalk.

"What are you all looking at?" Nagisa laughed. "This is what happens when we make an effort. Now let's all clean this mess up."

"But we didn't make it!" One of them protested.

"Doesn't matter, we all clean up." Nagisa threw a dustpan at his student. "Haven't you heard of teamwork?"

* * *

The next day, a Saturday, Nagisa gave Karasuma a call.

"Hello, Karasuma-sensei?" Nagisa paced around the flat.

"Hello Nagisa. And don't feel obligated to call me sensei, I haven't taught in almost eight years."

"Eh. You've always been Karasuma-sensei to me." Nagisa chuckled. "Anyway, I've got some updates."

"Huh?" Nagisa heard a dish clatter in the background.

"Damn it." The government agent muttered under his breath. "So what's the news? I'm hoping it's that the baby was born and you want us to be godparents, but something tells me it's about those creepy guys."

"Unfortunately, you are correct." Nagisa examined the potted plant that Akari had bought on an impulse. Its flowers were bright and purply-pink, not something that you'd usually find this time of year. Akari had sent him a photo of it just as she bought it, saying that it was perfect and she wanted to raise it. "So we went to the play and did some spying…"

An hour later, Nagisa was hearing about the info that Karasuma had gathered in the past two months. Or lack thereof.

"Sadly, no new leads." Nagisa could picture his old P.E. teacher grabbing his temples. "I mean, it's good that they haven't done anything else too shady, but I want to figure out what the hell is going on here."

"What should I do about the tire iron?" Nagisa sat down on the small rug that was set out in front of the television.

"Send me the pictures, I'll see if it looks familiar. It might take a few days or weeks' worth of research, though, so prepare not to hear back about it for a while."

"Thanks, I will." Nagisa sighed, and ended the call.

* * *

The next week came and went. On his way home from school in the dark, the blue-haired teacher exhaled, sending a cloud of fog around him. It was the last day of November. There were twenty-two day left until finals. He felt like his students could handle it, but by no means would he let them slack off. At this point it wasn't even about proving themselves to the administration. He wanted them to reach their full potential.

3-E's group chat was exploding today.

 **Yuuma Isogai: Would everyone be free on January 3rd? I'm trying to arrange another reunion for all of us. I'm sure we all want to see Kaede, and that's also the week Nakamura will be visiting.**

 **Rio Nakamura: Sorry guys. I can't keep away from Japan in the winter, it's too magical!**

 **Touka Yada: I'd love too! What place?**

 **Ryouma Terasaka: The old classroom?**

 **Karma Akabane: No you idiot, it'll be too cold. Remember how that shack doesn't have heating?**

 **Ryouma Terasaka: We survived eight years ago.**

 **Karma Akabane: My niece is going to be three days old. She can't take that.**

 **Rio Nakamura: Already being the protective uncle, eh? That's my boy.**

 **Itona Horibe: Haha Terasaka you're stupid.**

 **Ryouma Terasaka: No your stupid!**

 **Itona Horibe: *You're. Ladies and gentlemen, I rest my case.**

 **Kirara Hazama: I'm still surrounded by idiots, even eight years down the line.**

 **Hinata Okano: That still leaves the question of where…**

 **Hiroto Maehara: How about my place ;)**

 **Yuuma Isogai: You're offering? That's so cool dude! All in favor?**

 **Hiroto Maehara: … Wait that was just for Okano!**

 **Hinata Okano: Gag. Next idea!**

 **Yukiko Kanzaki: How about we rent out the ballroom that Karasuma-sensei and Bitch-sensei's wedding reception was in?**

 **Kouki Mimura: Can we even afford that? Or for that matter, can we do so with such short notice?**

 **Megu Kataoka: Don't worry, I've got some connections. I'll figure something out.**

 **Sumire Hara: Okay, I'll bring the food!**

 **Hinano Kurahashi: Yay! I can't wait to see all of you! And pinch the baby's cheeks!**

 **Kirara Hazama: Eww. Why do humans choose to procreate?**

Nagisa got home and found Akari on her cell phone, reading the chat as well. She looked at him as he closed the door, and nodded. After closing and locking the door tightly, he approached her and rubbed her shoulder. She looked up at him from her seat in the rocking chair and locked eyes.

"Is it time, love?" He grasped her cheek in his palm.

"Yes." She nodded.

He kneeled down and admired his fiancée's silver ring on her delicate hand. He took a picture and posted it to the groupchat.

The chat erupted. Literally fifty to a hundred messages flowed in, accounting for every person a few times. The reactions ranged from "About time" to "I hope I'm invited to the wedding" to "How are you getting married before me!?". That was to be expected, though, thought the student teacher as he sat hand in hand with his lover, basking in her presence.

What Nagisa did not predict, was that he would be contacted by his first student. He received a text from someone he hadn't spoken to in years. Sakura Kiyashiki.

 **Nagisa-kun? Can we meet up sometime? I need help with something.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Yes, a new chapter within less than a week of the last. I don't have any work due immediately (for now…), and I really want to get to the chapter where shit goes down as soon as possible. So here you go.**

* * *

Now this was interesting. Nagisa hadn't heard from Sakura since she graduated elementary school almost five years ago, but he kept her number saved and told her to contact him if she had any issues. He sat down on the couch and texted back.

 **Sure. What do you need?**

Two minutes later his phone dinged again.

 **It's way too detailed to tell you over text. Are you free on Sunday at 11?**

Nagisa began typing a response. Akari got up and sat down next to him.

"What's got you all worried?"

"Remember Sakura, from Matsukata's daycare?"

"Yeah," Akari smiled at the memory. "That was a fun two weeks. Those kids loved us."

"She texted me. She needs my help with something. I'm a bit concerned. She hasn't contacted me for five years..."

* * *

Friday and Saturday were full of festive activities. People dressed as Santa on the street waved to Nagisa and Akari while they walked to their usual restaurant on Saturday. The couple filled their flat with wintery decorations. Red and green streamers covered the buildings. The department store had a fleet of reindeer painted on the side.

 _December_. Nagisa was suddenly reminded of the countdown he used to do. _Their deadline to assassinate me… is just three months!_

* * *

It was Sunday. Nagisa sat in a café, sipping coffee. He stared at the scones in front of him, contemplating whether blueberry or cinnamon was the right choice. He went with blueberry, it reminded him of the color of his hair. The student teacher was getting even more concerned. Sakura had said to meet him here at 11 a.m. It was now 11:30, and she was nowhere in sight. Nagisa took out his phone, ready to call her when something snuck up behind him.

Or at least tried to. Nagisa knew all too well from sounds behind him that he had his back to someone. So he couldn't really be 'snuck up on'. And he knew from the lack of bloodlust that this person was a friend.

"Hi Nagisa-senpai!" Pink hair flashed in front of him.

"Hi Sakura-chan. Since when am I senpai?"

"I dunno, why am I still -chan?" She sat across from him, grabbing the cinnamon scone. "Ah nud yur hulp wit sumting," She said through a mouthful of pastry.

"If I were still your teacher I'd tell you to chew with your mouth closed." Nagisa felt a sweatdrop forming.

"Why can't I still be your student?" Sakura seemed a bit hurt. "Are you forgetting you were my teacher before anyone else's?" She placed her school bag down by her feet.

"Okay then, you're still my student and my next lesson is chew with your mouth closed." Nagisa smirked. "Now, what's this problem that you need help with?"

Sakura leaned forward, rested her head on her palms, then threw her hands up in frustration. "Ahh! I just don't know what to do about my friends!"

"What are they doing?" Nagisa took a sip of his gingerbread latte.

"We all went out to a party," She began, fidgeting with the lid on her own coffee cup. "And they begged me to come. I didn't want to, it seemed creepy, but they talked me into it. 'It'll be fun', they said. 'You won't regret it', they said." She took a giant gulp to break up her monologues. "Well, joke's on me, I _did_ end up regretting it." She stared out the window, tapping on the table. "We kinda sort-of may or may not be involved with a gang."

"What!?"

"Yeah, I knew you'd react like that." Sakura rolled her eyes. "Tomomi saw a guy there. I think they already knew each other before that day. They might actually be dating. I asked her, but I never got a straight answer. She was all like 'He's got something he wants to show us out back'."

"I know where this is going." Nagisa felt his stomach sink.

"That's exactly where this is going. I stupidly went along, and he shows us this brand new motorbike! Perfect condition. Said he stole it. That's when his buddies come out and each of them grabs one of us. The burly one pins me down on the ground. I can still remember the smell of his breath." She wrinkled her nose.

"They didn't hurt you, did they?" Nagisa's rage started to surface.

"Oh no, nothing like that. They did, however, ask us to transport the bike to this shady-ass place downtown within the next two hours."

"And?"

"We did." The eighteen year old leaned back in her chair. "Tomomi drove it, Suzune and I just hung on the back."

"And no one questioned three teenagers driving a motorbike around Kunugigaoka!?"

"Helmets. Three a.m." She responded simply. "Now these creepy dudes are calling her up every week or so and she enlists us to do shady stuff. Breaking into abandoned buildings to graffiti, the whole nine yards."

"I have a lot of students who do that willingly." Nagisa exhaled. "Why hasn't this been on the news?'

"It's never anywhere newsworthy." Sakura had crumpled the napkin in her hand out of anger.

"This needs to stop. _Now._ " Nagisa said emphatically. "This is really dangerous." What if it were connected to Paradise High?

"Tell me something I don't know." She looked away, avoiding his gaze. "And I've failed a few tests since. _Of course_ this happens around exams."

"We need to cure the root problem first." He shook his head. "Do you have the contact info of these guys?"

"No, and they don't have mine, thank goodness. Tomomi does all the arranging."

Nagisa didn't even know the full details of what these guys were doing. Handing them the business card of a teen therapist might not do any good. And he couldn't handle it with violence... He was going to do what he did best. Be a teacher.

"Ask Tomomi to gather them all. Tuesday. 6 p.m. In the vacant lot behind the abandoned KFC. Ask your friends to join, too." Nagisa cleaned up his garbage.

"Huh?"

"Yes, you heard that correctly. Text me when you get them to all agree."

Sakura looked confused, but sighed in agreement. "Okay."

Nagisa felt another tap on his shoulder. It was Akari.

"Hi dear. I was shopping in the boutique next door, and I saw you cleaning up in here." Nagisa grabbed her hand.

Sakura looked on, puzzled.

"Oh, you remember Kaede Kayano, the princess in the play we put on for you?" Nagisa cleaned up the crumbs.

"This is her?" Sakura was surprised. 'Kayano' and Akari did look a bit different, after all.

Akari showed her the ring. "We're due on New Year's Eve." She patted her belly.

Nagisa bent down to pick up Akari's bags. Akari helped him up. When they turned to look at Sakura, she was gone.

"What happened to her?" Nagisa wondered aloud, still as dense as ever.

* * *

Nagisa got the text from Sakura on Monday.

 **Got it all planned out. They think I have something I want to show them. Probably think I'm contributing to their life of crime, I guess. Whatever. You know what to do?**

He sure did.

Tuesday's class was a blur. Nagisa distributed a test on polynomials, but he held off on grading it until tomorrow. He had about ten paper balls thrown at him by Takemura.

"I will tolerate no more lazy assassination attempts." He delivered the sentence with a smile.

Now he stood in the abandoned lot. 5:58 p.m. He hid in the shadows, and texted Sakura that he'd make himself known when it mattered. The girls were at the entrance to the lot, illuminated by the last remnants of sunlight being swallowed by the mountain where the old E Class campus sat.

The guests of honor made themselves known. "Okay, why'd you bitches invite us out at this time?" Nagisa felt himself twitch with anger at the way his student and her friends were being referred to.

"Yeah, this is when we go bar hopping. By the way, did I tell you I know a guy who does fake ids? We can get you some so maybe you can come with us next-"

Nagisa knew it was time to act. "Boys, boys," He walked out of the shadows, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Time for a little extra credit lesson."

"Who the fuck are you? Hey wait, are you a _girl_!?"

"Who invited you?"

The last one walked up to him, grabbing his collar. It reminded him of Kagato the first day of school. "We already skipped all our classes today. Now let's make a decision right now. You can either fuck off, or we'll sell you to the Yakuza. Your choice."

There was a pause. Not just in speech. Everyone's breathing stopped. Their thoughts stopped.

"I wouldn't be so quick to make decisions if I were you." Nagisa's bloodlust started to register with the delinquents.

The big dude dropped him and looked away in shame.

"Now, as you may have been able to tell from my tone, I am a teacher." Nagisa titled his head, pacing back and forth.

"I hate teachers."

"That's a shame. Now, you're living a really… unnecessarily difficult life right now. Difficult for you, difficult for everyone you've inconvenienced, and difficult for these girls you've dragged into your crimes."

"You think we don't know that?" The skinny one snorted.

"Then it's time for some brainstorming. Why do you do it?"

The three delinquents stared at each other. The teacher waited a good thirty seconds before accepting that he wasn't getting an answer. "Well then. How do you plan on stopping this behav-"

The girl with long black hair spoke up. "Don't talk to my boyfriend that way!" This must be Tomomi.

Nagisa held his hand out, sending the message of 'be quiet'. "Let him speak for himself."

"I don't. I was raised this way." The burly one growled menacingly.

"So you were always like this?" Nagisa stopped his pacing, turning towards him.

"Yes."

"Even as a child?"

"Uh… No." He choked.

"Then when did you start?"

'Middle school." He rushed at Nagisa, who dodged. This was becoming muscle memory for him.

"And why did it start?"

The burly guy took a swing at Nagisa, who grabbed his fist and stopped it.

"Some dudes beat me up in the seventh grade," The delinquent breathed through his teeth. "So, naturally, I responded likewise."

"And what did that solve?" Nagisa ducked to avoid another punch. The two other dudes were frozen, shocked that this pipsqueak had the balls to challenge them when it was three against one.

"It stopped those guys!"

"But right now, are you defending yourself?" Nagisa stepped back. His opponent hesitated. "Have I threatened you?" Nagisa's hands went up.

The teenager's companions awkwardly brushed the dust off of their clothes (none in uniform, of course). Sakura and her friends stared.

"You attack someone who didn't threaten you, and you don't know why you do it, and you don't plan on stopping this behavior…" Nagisa began pacing again. "Okay, today's homework: Regarding all your other misdeeds: Stealing and such, determine the root cause of why you-"

"We're sorry sensei!"

When Nagisa turned around, the three high school boys were on their hands and knees.

"Please don't do this anymore! Thinking is not my strong suit!"

 _Huh, they really are amateurs…_ Nagisa went in expecting more of a challenge. He forgot he was dealing with high schoolers for a minute.

"If you know about the motorbike, it wasn't even stolen!" The smallest one was crying. "It was mine, I sent it to my cousin! I just wanted to feel tough!"

Nagisa was wearing his signature are-you-kidding-me face, but quickly wiped it away. That at least answered one of his questions. "You're a gang, right?" The short blue haired man inquired.

"Uh, we are..." The high schooler lost his sense of bloodlust. "But we were just jokin' about all the Yakuza stuff." He frantically added.

"So then, who is your boss?"

The biggest one looked him in the eye, but only for a second. "I'm the boss, I guess..."

He left, defeated, and his posse followed. Sakura squealed.

"See how _great_ my teacher is?"

* * *

When Nagisa arrived home, Akari had set out a nice dinner for the both of them. Shrimp teriyaki with lots of white rice. They sat down.

"So how'd it go?" Akari asked through mouthfuls.

"It went okay. I managed to talk them down. They said they were a part of a gang."

Akari looked quizzical. "Could they be involved with what we're dealing with at Paradise High?"

"Ha ha." Nagisa poked the shrimp with his chopstick. "That was my concern. But they were just a bunch of wannabe punks. I at least got them to think. I've come to learn that sometimes the way to correct troubled teens isn't with brute force. If you can reason with them, that might be best."

* * *

Nagisa met with Sakura every day that week to catch her up.

"How have things been?"

"The good thing is the 'gang' disbanded." Sakura looked up from the homework she was grading. It was so full of red ink it looked like it was bleeding. "I dunno how any of them got my number, but I got an apology text from each of them. But Tomomi still won't talk to me."

"She'll get over it." Nagisa assured her. "I actually taught my students this formula a few months ago."

"But aren't you teaching students two years older than me?"

"They're a bit behind, but that's okay." Nagisa scratched his cheeks. "Now, this is how you solve this equation…"

* * *

Nagisa's parents came over on the next Saturday, since news of the engagement had been brought to them. They were all in the baby's room, now that it was completely finished, painted pink and filled with stuffed animals.

"My boy's getting married!" Nagisa's dad patted him on the back rather hardly.

Hiromi was on her knees with her ear up to Akari's belly. "Grandma can't wait for you to arrive."

"Three weeks left." Akari chuckled.

"I've already got a bunch of gifts for you." Hiromi patted her granddaughter.

"So," Nagisa's father cleared his throat. "When's the wedding?"

"Huh?" The expectant parents said simultaneously.

"The wedding! Did you pick a day? Or a location?" The fourty-seven year old woman chirped.

The young couple was speechless.

"We… Haven't really thought it through." Nagisa admitted.

"It'd be nice for it to be before the baby, but I don't think we can plan one so quickly." Akari sighed and went back to knitting.

"So…" The blue-haired man looked at his fiancée. "We'll start thinking about a date."

After his parents left, Nagisa and Akari sat down at the dining room table.

"So… Any day in particular you want?" Nagisa started making a pot of tea for them.

Akari stared at the crystal chandelier. "April 2nd, maybe?" The anniversary of the day they met.

Nagisa rushed over to look at the calendar. "That's a Tuesday next year."

"Ugh, I want to get married on Christmas." Akari ran her fingers through her hair. "That would be so romantic. But we can't plan a wedding in sixteen days. Plus that's Karma's birthday too, we don't want to steal his thunder."

"How about we wait 'til the weather is nice?" Nagisa began washing the dishes that had piled up that day. "We can have it outdoors. We can invite everyone from E Class."

Akari smiled genuinely. "Yes. That would be nice." She walked up to the calendar. "So that pretty much leaves late April through September."

"April might be a bit of a mess with the beginning of a new school year," Nagisa rinsed his hands of the soapy water. "Sometime warmer, maybe?"

Akari nodded in agreement, then went to get the tea off the stove. "Spring or summer?"

"Let's flip a coin. Heads, spring. Tails, summer."

They did. It was tails.

"We may need more time to plan it." Nagisa poured the tea. "So August might be the best month. And we won't have to take time off of work for the honeymoon. By the way, will people know…"

"I agree about August, but we still have to be private about this." Akari pulled out her chair. "We'll announce our marriage after I retire."

Nagisa sat down next to her and slipped his hand into hers. "Okay. Is August 10th good?"

"It's wonderful."

The couple sat like that for moments before realizing that a Christmas-themed movie Akari was in as a child star was on the television. They moved their party to the living room, giggling and all smiles.


	29. Chapter 29

**So the good news is I got into the program I applied to in Japan, meaning I will definitely get this fic finished by the New Year. The bad news is I'm severely ill after spending a long ass time in the hospital over abdominal pain of who-knows-what cause. The doctors couldn't decide between appendicitis and ovarian torsion until the CT scan came back and ruled them both out…**

 **So I came home from college and am recuperating at my house 'til my general practitioner figures out what's wrong. Stuck in bed. So now that I don't feel like absolute death, I have lots of time to write.**

* * *

Nagisa looked at the pile of research papers on his table. They were on _The Tale of Genji_. And each 7 pages long, all turned in last Friday. He set aside time on Sunday afternoon to look through them.

So now here he was, with a rubric to grade each paper. A cup of tea sat beside him. Akari was sitting in the rocking chair knitting. The tv made for meaningless background noise. He sighed, picked one randomly, and combed through it.

It didn't take long to get through a cursory read of all his students' papers. Now began the task of analyzing and grading them. Nagisa allowed himself to be distracted, if only for a brief moment.

Wedding preparations had already begun. Nagisa and Akari had a list of possible venues attached to the fridge via magnet. Many were already crossed out, due to being too public or not creating the right atmosphere. One was bolded in blue ink at the bottom of the list.

 _E Class Campus_

Would that be right? Would Koro-sensei and Yukimura-sensei approve? Where would the altar even be? Perhaps the reception would be in the building… Maybe they'd have a pudding instead of a wedding cake.

Nagisa smiled, then got down to business. The pile of papers was underneath his fist, and he took one off the top and began writing comments and notes all over it. The rubric was on the other side of him, he referred to it intermittently.

Nagisa was very pleased with these papers. The thoughts and ideas were well expressed and thoroughly explored, there were no major grammatical errors, and the paragraphs flowed one into the next. True, some students produced better work than others, but it was like that in any classroom.

And just like that, his pen ran out of ink.

 _Oh well,_ Nagisa thought, _I'll just get another one._ He picked a bright red one with his alma mater's logo printed on the side and scribbled a few more drops' worth of ink, but that one ran dry too. He did it again, and again, with six different pens until finally exhausting his resources.

Nagisa sighed in frustration. It was cold and windy outside and the stores would be crowded on a Sunday near Christmas. But he couldn't leave the comment on Aida's paper as simply _Consider your thes_ , so he had to pick up a new pack of pens.

"Akari?" He called to his fiancée in the other room.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to the store, do you need anything?" Nagisa got his coat on.

"Eggnog!" He could hear her smiling. "And please be sure to be home before 5, we're supposed to get a big snowstorm this evening."

* * *

Nagisa was now at the store, dodging bored shoppers and stressed retail workers. Pens would be in the 'office' section, right? Once he found his way over, he placed three or four packs in his shopping basket, then tossed in a few extra staplers and some paperclips (Those were very useful as a teacher), and walked over to the grocery section to pick up Akari's eggnog.

Due to his background as an assassin, Nagisa was perpetually alert. That is not to say he was paranoid, but rather he was always aware of his surroundings, regardless of the location. So when he passed an aura he'd encountered many years ago, the only thing that really surprised him was that he kept running into old friends in this same department store. Weren't there other places to shop in town?

Nagisa placed the eggnog in his basket, then passed the familiar face again on the way to the checkout. Said familiar person finally noticed him.

"N-Na-Nagisa!?" The dark-haired man dropped his bags.

"Yuji?"

"Nagisa!" Yuji lunged and grabbed Nagisa by the shoulders. "It's been so long! How are you? What are you doing?"

"I'm a student teacher. I'm engaged with a baby on the way in three weeks." Nagisa bowed to him. "How about you?"

"Well, umm… it's kind of a long story." Yuji scratched the back of his head. "Do you have a minute?"

"Sure, just let me pay and maybe we can go back to my place." He texted Akari for her approval, and she agreed and got into her disguise promptly.

Both men strolled out of the store with plastic bags and started the walk to Nagisa's apartment.

The apartment was nice and toasty, and the Christmas decorations were welcoming to Yuji. He hadn't put those up in years.

Akari, 'Kayano' for now, got up and greeted the men. "Nagisa!" She gently hugged her fiancé. Turning to Yuji, she took a second to rack her brain for where she'd seen him before. "I was a classmate of Nagisa's all those years ago. We met you in Okinawa, right?"

"Yeah, I remember you." Yuji bowed. "Time sure does fly, doesn't it?"

The three sat at the dining room table, under the glass chandelier. Yuji was clearly impressed with how decadent the flat was, but was polite enough not to ask about their income. Akari was making hot chocolate for all of them.

"So what's up?" Nagisa cut to the chase after twenty minutes of small talk about the weather, school, and politics.

"So my dad kicked me out." Yuji said, as passively as if he were saying that the sky was blue.

"What!?"

"Yup. Just that. I spent too much of his money, he got angry and kicked me out."

"And your mom?" Nagisa sipped his hot chocolate.

"Didn't seem to have an objection." Yuji poured whipped cream on his cup.

"Do you have a job?"

"I'm looking for one right now." The rich boy tapped his fingers on the table, staring out the window. "But I just graduated college. I have no work experience. No one will hire me."

"So where are you staying?"

"A hotel room. My dad agreed to pay for it so long as I found a job within a month."

"And when was that?" Akari butted in, shifting in her seat.

"Two weeks ago…"

"Okay…" Nagisa was calm, and collected his thoughts. "Let's tackle this one problem at a time. Where do you want to work?"

"I have a degree in business. I wanted to take over my uncle's business, but I don't think that's happening anymore. I'm sure he hates me for what I did to my dad."

"Maybe, maybe not." Nagisa's blue hair trembled as he sneezed. "Have you applied to any other jobs in that sector?"

"Yeah, but I haven't gotten any calls back."

Akari got up to turn the thermostat up, but hesitated a bit and grabbed her belly.

"Aka- Kayano are you okay!?" Nagisa panicked. "Are you going into labor!?"

Akari couldn't help but grin. "No, I'm just so big I'm having trouble getting around."

Nagisa's adrenaline levels dropped. Okay, everything was fine. He turned his attention back to Yuji. "What's on your resumé?"

"Not much. Just the name of the school I graduated from." He adjusted his New York Yankee hat.

"I still think it's strange. People would probably recognize your dad's name and that you run that food blog… What other factors could there be?" The young androgynous man monologued to himself. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. "Let's do a mock interview."

"Huh? Now?" Yuji got nervous.

"Yes." Nagisa pulled a stack of papers out so he could pretend to take notes on them. "Treat me like I'm your potential boss." He now imitated a professional voice. "So, what experience do you have with managing business?"

"None." Yuji twitched in his seat.

"Could you give me an example of you making a decision that benefited a company?"

"I don't know, my dad ran everything in my house."

Nagisa was beginning to see why his old friend wasn't getting any calls back.

"What is your goal in life?"

"To do whatever makes me happy, I guess…"

Nagisa resisted the urge to facepalm. "See, I'm a teacher, so forgive me if I lecture you here. Interviewers want exact and direct answers. They don't like to hear that you don't know and that you have no experience. Play up your good traits."

"What good traits? What have I done?" Yuji hid his face in his hands.

"You helped us out with our café." Akari's voice rang out. She plopped down in the chair next to him and patted his back. "Talk about how you promoted a small, local business with your influence as a popular food critic."

Yuji lifted his head up to give Akari a happy smile. "Thanks, Kayano." He sniffled with joy.

"Now for the other issue." Nagisa switched gears. "You have to pay back your dad and make up with him. How much did you spend?"

"… 10,000,000 Yen." He took off his hat and stared at it.

Nagisa cringed. That was more than E Class accepted from the government when they killed Koro-sensei!

"Well, you have to make that back, and pay it to him." Nagisa stated simply. "I recommend calling him to tell him about that. But after you land a job." Nagisa met his friend's eye with a warm gaze. "But don't be surprised if he's still mad at you. It might take a while before he forgives you."

Yuji breathed deeply. "Thanks, Nagisa-kun. You really did kick my ass into shape, now more than once."

"I do my best." He chuckled. "And I love keeping in contact with everyone from middle school. I like to think it was formative years for all of us." Speaking of which, Nagisa made a mental note to call Karasuma later, since he wasn't getting any response on the whole tire iron thing.

Everyone was quiet enough, for just a minute, to hear the television. "… It is now 4 p.m. Everyone in the Greater Tokyo Area is getting prepared…"

Oh crap. Yeah, that snowstorm was going to plow through within an hour. "Yuji, can you make it to your hotel before five?"

"Yeah, not a problem, it's just a few blocks away from here." He smiled, put his hat back on, and got up. "Call me soon, okay?"

"Okay."

The snow piled up quickly. The pair of shorties retreated to their living room, hot chocolate in hand and ready to get in fuzzy pajamas and watch cute Christmas movies. The papers would wait for another day.

* * *

 _Monday, December 11_ _th_ _. 11 days 'til finals._ Nagisa cracked his knuckles, looking at his class. "So the school festival's coming up."

He received a few quizzical looks from his students. "Don't tell us we have to participate…" Azuki raised his head from his nap.

"Yeah, about that, we _do_." Nagisa chirped. His class looked on with a mixture of disappointment and anger. "So think about what you want to do. Proposals are due at the end of the week." The bluenette dodged the objects used as projectiles against him.

"I only have enough brainpower to either study for finals _or_ figure this shit out, I can't do both!"

"Why can't _you_ come up with something!?"

"I'm too busy with underwater basket weaving!"

Nagisa let out an annoyed sigh. "Just give it some thought, okay. Now time for role call. Aida?"

"Here…"

* * *

Nagisa's anxiety was at an unusually high level all week. Between Akari's due date approaching and finals looming over them, this whole school festival thing was the last thing he wanted to deal with, even if they wouldn't start preparing for it until after the winter break. So when it came to the matter of his students, he focused his energy on studying for finals. He met with each student individually all week, suggesting study methods specifically tailored to each of them. For Kazama he advised that he go for a run beforehand to get the energy out of his system. For Hamada, drawing out a picture of what he wanted to remember might work.

But as the days went on, the other issue 3-5 faced was unsolved. Nagisa sectioned off an end of the chalkboard with _Ideas for the School Festival_ written in big capital letters at the top. It was bare most of the time, except for when the students decided to write something like 'Lock Kotori's mom and Azuki's mom in the same room, throw a tube of lipstick between them, and have people pay to watch the carnage!' or 'Everyone pays 500 Yen to take a shot at Shiota-sensei!' as a joke. Nagisa was considering just coming up with an idea on his own so his students could focus on finals.

Until Toshima had an epiphany. He approached the board, and wrote "Haunted house" in blue chalk.

"Really dude? I mean, I know Izumoto's ugly but that's a bit mean!" Kazama called out.

"Hey!"

"It'll be great!" Toshima got the attention of his classmates with his enthusiasm. "Everyone will go in expecting our room to be a mess like it was before, and we'll really wow them when we turn the lights on and it's totally pristine!"

"But it needs to be _scary._ " Takemura interjected.

"We can dress up as werewolves and all kinds of monsters!" Toshima seemed really into this idea. "Let's make it an international haunted house. Not just Japanese monsters!"

"That's stupid." Kagato groaned.

"Let's hear your brilliant idea."

Nagisa interrupted the budding fight. "All in favor?"

Hands were halfheartedly raised. Now Nagisa had to try to make this as fun for them as possible. They were far to wrapped up in studying right now to pay this any thought.

* * *

Nagisa was, once again, spending some time with Kawaguchi after school. They walked down the hallways of the school, taking their time because the train didn't leave for another 30 minutes. The old man kicked a pebble down the hall.

"How's your fiancée?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Oh, she'll be thirty-eight weeks along in two days." Nagisa beamed. "I know she can't wait. She's so big she needs help getting out of bed in the morning."

"And you?"

"Panicking. I don't know which way is up." The short blue-haired man laughed. "But I can't wait 'til she's here."

"Can I…" His friend stopped walking, and suddenly became mute. Nagisa paused and looked towards him. "Can I visit her? After she's born, I mean. Every once in a while. It's been a while since I've had babies around…"

Nagisa's breath was taken away. He found a grin on his face. "If Akari says it's fine, sure. We'd love to have you over. All of us."

* * *

Saturday, December 16th. Nagisa and Akari were relaxing on the couch after a long and exhausting week. They were just drifting off to sleep, when a knock at the door stirred both awake.

Nagisa was slowing arising, when a louder, more aggressive knock prompted him along. He stumbled to the door.

The moment he opened the door, he was pushed aside by a tall, threatening-looking man and a blonde woman. They slammed the door behind them and locked it. Nagisa and Akari instinctively got into defensive mode, but then he recognized the intruders.

"Karasuma-sensei? Bitch-sensei?" He had forgotten that he'd given them his and Akari's address.

Karasuma caught his breath. "I have a lead. The both of you, you better take a look at this."


	30. Chapter 30

**I really want to get to the chapter where shit goes down before Thanksgiving (November 23). So I hope to have a lot of updates within the next two days. There will also be LOTS of Nagikae in the few chapters after this one. Prepare thy heart.**

* * *

Akari shot up from her seat. "A lead?" Nagisa went over to her to help her up, and held her hand as they walked towards their former teachers.

"Yes." Karasuma whipped out his phone and pulled up a picture to show his ex-students. "Look familiar?"

It was a photo of the same tire iron.

"Yeah, I remember that, I sent it to you." Nagisa rubbed his eyes.

"No you didn't." Indeed, upon closer examination this photo was clearly taken in a different location. It was brightly lit, and on a linoleum floor rather than hardwood. And it was not resting on cardboard boxes, instead on plastic tubs.

"Huh?" Nagisa scratched his head. "Where did that come from?"

"It happened just now. I was inspecting the back of the local municipal building. They were suspected for fraud, you know-"

"They _were_!? I didn't know."

"Well now you do. Just as I was thinking about how I had no clue where to go with this and how I had nothing to tell you, I come across _this_."

Nagisa, knowing his teacher was prompting him to make a comparison, unlocked his own phone and brought up the picture he took.

The tire irons did look the same. Same bloodstains and rust spots in the exact same locations. Everything down to the serial number on the side.

"So…" Nagisa placed his chin in his hand. "Those fuckers have connections to the _town officials_!?"

"That, or they're threatening them too." Karasuma sighed. "Nagisa, the just to be absolutely certain that it's the same one, could you take a look in the school's storage room again? This one was confiscated, and I don't have the authority to show you the actual thing."

Nagisa inhaled slowly. He thought about this logically for a second.

Of course, he'd face one obstacle to this mission. The storage room would be locked, as it always was, and he did not have a key. This is why he thought ahead to use some of his connections.

Nagisa knew for a fact that there was more than one master key to the school floating around. One was held by the school's only janitor (whose sole job was to clean the bathrooms and hallways, as the students did all the work in the classrooms), one was always in Narayama's hands for some reason (Nagisa would investigate this later), and the last one was caught in a meaningless game of monkey-in-the-middle between Nagisa, Kasegawa, and the Nakagawa/Shibata duo (as to who it rightfully belonged to was anyone's guess). Nagisa didn't know the janitor all too well, and he was still chasing after that legendary third key, so that left Narayama-sensei.

Nagisa hadn't spoken to him in ages. But the last time he did, the older man seemed to be more open and friendly towards him. His "you're a great guy" remark when Nagisa spoke to him at the art show really blindsided the short teacher. So he figured he might be able to get a favor out of his colleague.

The twenty-three year old student teacher exhaled. "I'll do it."

* * *

Monday morning. Nagisa arrived early and took a seat in the teacher's lounge, pretending to get a cup of water. He thanked his lucky stars that the criminal duo themselves were nowhere to be seen. But his target was sitting right in front of him, pouring a pot of tea.

"Narayama-sensei?" He bowed.

"Ahh, Shiota-san." He was expressionless.

 _Is that a bad sign…_ Nagisa had to hide his signature are-you-kidding-me face. "How have you been?"

"Just chugging along." He moved his cup out of the way and reached for a new one. "Want some tea?"

"Yes, thank you." Nagisa paused while the older teacher poured tea into his cup. He could smell that it was black tea. "How are your students?"

"Doing so much better since the art show. I think we really wow'd all our visitors, and that pushed my students to put even more effort into their work." He shifted his attention to the stovetop. "I've been thinking of showing the kids my art from way back when."

"You used to draw?"

"Of course I did. I think you can't truly teach a subject until you've had experience in it." Narayama seemed wistful. "I haven't painted anything since I lost that competition fifteen years ago. It really took the inspiration out of me. I just hope that my students-" The middle-age man stopped abruptly. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I went on about that."

Koro-sensei's voice rung in Nagisa's head. _There are two reasons one becomes a teacher. One, to pass on his successes. Two, to pass on his failures._ Nagisa wondered which category  he fit in.

"It's fine." He assured his coworker. "I have a talent I haven't made use of in a long time either. Not since middle school, in fact."

"What made you stop?"

"Oh, I made a big accomplishment regarding it, but I stopped because," The true answer was moral reasons, but Nagisa decided to keep it vague. "My teacher, who was very experienced in the subject, told me there was no good future in it. So I now use my talents to help people."

There was a minute of silence as Narayama processed what Nagisa was saying. He must have sensed that he didn't want to be any more specific, because he dropped the topic.

"Anyway," Nagisa went on, honing in on his target because the time to start class was drawing near. He was on the verge of pondering ( _Should_ he let the art teacher in on what his true intentions were?), but there was no time to do that, so he went with truthful vagueness again. "I don't know how I'll teach current events to my class today."

"Hmm?"

"There's something I need in the storage room. But I don't have the key."

"Oh. I have a key, do you want me to unlock it for you?"

"Could you? Thank you very much." Nagisa bowed again, deeper this time.

"It's no problem. What period do you need it for?" Narayama sipped his tea. "I mean, I'd unlock it now but I have to run to class."

"Sixth."

"That's convenient. I have fifth period free." Nagisa was very pleased with this coincidence. It made things much simpler for him.

"So do I." The blue-haired teacher smiled at him, his smile was returned, and they went their separate ways to their classrooms.

Success. Nagisa found his way back to the classroom in time to write on the board. _December 18th. 4 days 'til finals._ The blue-haired little teacher took a look around the room. Frost covered the ground outside. It was cloudy and the room, even with the lights on, looked dim. Nagisa frowned a bit at the atmosphere that the lighting set, but it faded quickly as he thought again of what he had just accomplished. It was still a few minutes before the class would arrive.

Nagisa went over today's agenda in his head. First History class, Japanese, and English. Then lunch, when he would go over any last-minute questions the students had for the finals. Then Math class, then 3-5 would go to the gym for P.E. It was at that time, that Nagisa would make his move.

The class filtered in rather quickly today. They must have been mentally preparing for the tests Friday, he rationalized. They all seemed to be in a good mood today, at least better than average. Good. It was a good day, and Nagisa assured that it would stay that way.

The hour had finally come. The clock struck 1:45, and his students shuffled off to the gym, moaning about having to changing into those itchy uniforms.

Once the last student left the room, their teacher put his plan into action. He hid himself right next to the doorframe and peered out slightly. Seeing that there was no one wandering in the hall, he commenced onward.

Within a few minutes, Nagisa was at the door of the art room. He waited for his partner in… not exactly crime, but sneaking around and uncovering other people's misdeeds. Whatever the more concise term for that was.

Nagisa heard footsteps. And they weren't coming from the direction of Narayama's room. Panicking, he hid in the men's room across the hall. He was thankful that it was vacant for now.

The footsteps echoed throughout the hallway and continued past the men's room. The voices of the second year math teacher and the first year history teacher laughed out. Thank goodness. Then a new set of footsteps came in the direction of the art room. Knowing this was his guy, Nagisa rushed out of the men's room and planted himself in front of the door to the storage room.

Narayama appeared in front of him. He unlocked the door. "I have a lot of paintings to grade, so I hope you won't mind if I leave and trust you to lock up?"

"I don't mind at all." Nagisa smiled, and his new friend went back from the way he came.

Thanking the middle aged art teacher once more in his head, Nagisa slipped into the room and looked around at his surroundings. As his eyes adjusted to the light, it became apparent that no one else was here.

First he went to where the tire iron was placed when he first encountered it. It was nowhere to be found. And those props from the play two months ago were untouched, according to the picture that Nagisa had taken for reference.

Yep. It was just as Nagisa had suspected. No tire iron here. He examined every nook and cranny of the room for good measure. It wasn't buried in the mess of various items that filled the shelves or stuck under the piles of every book Haruki Murakami had ever written. He found a stepladder, turned the light on, and spent most of the class just searching the room for anywhere that it might be. He even checked out Aida's former alcohol-hiding spot.

Now time was running out and he was running out of places to look. Hastily, he texted Karasuma.

 **Yep, nothing here. It's the same thing.**

The bluenette then made his swift exit, careful to lock the door from the inside on the way out.

Having accomplished his mission, Nagisa dusted off his vest and walked back to his own classroom. His thoughts drifted to the key.

 _What if one of the students got their hands on it again…_

* * *

The school day had ended. All the students were walking home at their own respective pace. Takemura and Azuki wanted to get out of there immediately (to study, Nagisa hoped), while Kagato and Hamada seemed to slither behind, in no rush to be anywhere.

The unusual pair were joined by Kasegawa and Izumoto once they finally stepped outside of the building.

"What are your plans for the day?" Izumoto, the class's proclaimed 'space cadet', shuffled through his school bag.

"After a full day of dealing with Shiota-sensei, go sit in some abandoned building and be alone with my thoughts." The redheaded girl snickered. "But seriously, what a sucker. He still doesn't know I have the master key."

"How do you know that he doesn't know that?" Hamada, her best friend, inquired.

"You know him. He would have approached me all like 'Kasegawa where's the key, give it to me, I'm annoying as fuck, blah blah blah.'" She finished off her impersonation with a tired expression.

"You might wanna keep that part on the down low, so he _won't_ figure it out." Izumoto stared. "He'll probably figure it out eventually. He's not stupid, unlike me."

"At least you have some self-awareness…" The teenage girl jabbed.

"Don't say that about yourself, dude." Kagato roughly patted his back. "Where we're going we don't need brains."

"You mean High School?"

"No. Prison."

There was a slightly uncomfortable silence as they boarded the train. "Do you two wanna come with us? We're going to smash some golf balls in the abandoned lot on Fifth Street." Izumoto took the seat nearest to the window.

"Sure." Kasegawa sat next to him. "What else am I gonna do anyway."

"Naw. I gotta get home and study for finals." Hamada stood and held onto the railing.

"Lame." Kagato mocked, sitting directly on the floor.

"Hey, I know you've been studying too, at least compared to last year. Or was that slight increase in your GPA due to you suddenly growing a brain?"

The delinquent wisely did not respond.

The train came to their destination, and the group walked into the sunlight, or lack thereof. They all shuddered a bit, missing the heating on the train.

"Do you want to stick it to that irritating principal? Is that why you're putting an effort in?" Kagato, who Nagisa Shiota deemed his most difficult student, felt like pushing it to today.

"Maybe I want to do well because I want to do well." Hamada got defensive. "Ever thought of that? And what's _your_ story? Why do you study?"

Their interaction concluded with a shrug, and afternoon went on as planned.

* * *

Nagisa breathed. _Thursday, December 21st. 1 day 'til finals._ He paced around the room during his free period. He stared out the window at the snowbird perched on a dead tree branch. It stared at him, blankly. He stared back without blinking. He regretted not filling the classroom with Christmas decorations, but it was just the last thing on his mind the whole month.

 _I hope I've done well by the students,_ he resumed his pacing, breaking eye contact with the bird. His stomach growled, as he couldn't bring himself to eat all day. He tried to reason with himself. By the end of tomorrow his anxiety would drop to manageable levels. The only thing to worry about would be Akari and Kaede. The due date was only ten days away. He felt himself fill with joy, giddiness, nervousness, and love all at the same time.

The bird flew away. The students came back, and the student teacher took a deep breath. It was up to him to prepare them for tomorrow.


	31. Chapter 31

**Author's note: Yes, in Japan the traditional Christmas dinner is Kentucky Fried Chicken. I am not making that up. Christmas is also more of a romantic holiday than a family one.**

* * *

Friday, December 22nd. Finals were today.

Nagisa was up, sitting at the kitchen table at 6:30 in the morning. He was still dripping wet from a shower and a cup of coffee sat in front of him. The steam rose up as he poured cream and stirred sugar in.

Akari sat across from him, nibbling on a donut and reading the news on her phone. "We're getting another big snowstorm tomorrow." She passed her phone to her fiancé, prompting him to look. "They expect 6 to 8 feet. Good thing the kids won't miss any school because of it."

"Just as the last snow melted, we're going to be snowed in again. I'll pick up groceries on the way home from work so we're stocked for the weekend." Nagisa looked at her like she was the world. "Anything you want?"

"More eggnog, please."

"Okay. I guess I should also pick up some stuff for us to do. Boardgames and such."

"Oh, I can think of a few things we could do, if it were last year at this time." She traced her finger across his chest, going up to his face and pulling his chin toward her.

They kissed passionately. He stood up to whisper in her ear. "Oh, the things I'm going to do to you six weeks after December 31st."

Akari grabbed him and pulled closer. "I'm holding you to that. Just don't get me pregnant again."

Nagisa downed the last of his coffee. "I'd love to stay and flirt with you all day, but I need to be at school." He got his coat on. "I don't teach today, it's just a formality thing. So feel free to text me all day."

"You bet I will. And Nagisa?" She addressed him as he started out the door.

"Yes?"

"Don't be too nervous. They'll do wonderfully. You're their teacher after all, the new Koro-sensei."

That was honestly the most flattering comparison that had ever been made about him, Nagisa thought. "Thanks Akari."

It was cloudy again, and snowflakes fell from the gray sky. Nagisa was grateful for that interaction, not just for the obvious reasons, but also because it took his mind off of finals for just a second. He arrived at the station just in time for his train. Keeping his pace steady, he boarded the train and stared out the window, wondering what Koro-sensei would be thinking now.

* * *

As to be expected, finals were boring for Nagisa.

He sat in the room for what seemed to be hours, but when he looked at his phone only thirty minutes had passed. He thought of what he was doing this day eight years ago. That was the day of E class's triumph over the rest of the school. He still had pride in his chest, looking back now. They took what they were given, and they shocked everyone with their abilities. But adult Nagisa would have to wait until after the break to find out how his students did.

A text arrived from Akari.

 **Karma said he wants to visit the day after Christmas. Is that okay?**

Oh. With all the craziness recently, Nagisa had forgotten that Christmas was only a few days away! Luckily he'd already bought his gift for her. So he responded.

 **Yeah, he's welcome. Did you book KFC?**

He got a response within minutes.

 **Yeah, I waited 'til the last minute but somehow got a reservation. I don't know how that happened. But you're going to love your gift ;)**

Nagisa grinned as he typed his reply.

 **You're going to love yours too.**

Kawaguchi came in at about 10 a.m., interrupting the digital love fest.

"Hello." His age was really beginning to show. His hair had gone completely white, there weren't even flecks of gray anymore. His attempts to hide his wrinkles with anti-aging cream were not successful. But he gave off an air of wisdom with these qualities. Nagisa thought it a shame that he was trying to hide that.

"Oh, hi." Nagisa put his phone on his desk. "What's on your mind?"

"Exam days are so boring, that's what. Also you going to the Christmas party in an hour? I haven't heard you talk about it."

"Why am I just hearing about this now?" Nagisa sweatdropped.

"Nakagawa was supposed to pass the news along to all the Third Year teachers. You never got the memo?"

"No." Knowing that bastard, it was probably intentional. There was probably something he wanted to hide at that party. That is, hide from Nagisa specifically. A switch flipped. Duty called again.

"Let's go, I'm sure it'll be great." Carefully slipping his phone into his pocket, Nagisa locked his other valuables in his desk and mentally prepared himself for this party.

* * *

An hour later, every teacher in the school was stuffed into one of the math rooms.

Thankfully, this wasn't an ugly sweater party, or else Nagisa would have been woefully unprepared. In fact, the only one in a sweater was the head of the Math department, and he always had strange taste anyway.

A plate of spice cookies sat on the table in the back, and a pot of coffee was boiling. Yes, these teachers actually kept coffee makers in their room. Nagisa knew if he did that it would be poisoned within a day.

Nagisa picked up a cookie, and a Santa hat was abruptly dropped on him.

The biology teacher was red. She patted Nagisa's head. "Happy Christmas!" She hiccuped.

"Uh, Happy Christmas to you too." Nagisa had a sweatdrop for the second time today. This science teacher was clearly drunk.

"Come drink with us, Nagi-chan." She tried to pull his sleeve.

"No thank you. And it's Shiota. And I'm also not a -chan."

"Aww." The biology teacher was pulled away by the chemistry and current events teachers, warning her that she 'needed to slow down'.

Amidst all the corny Christmas music and silly hats, Nagisa found Narayama in a corner, staring out the window.

He walked up to the art teacher. "How are you?"

Narayama practically jumped. "Uh, good, how are you?"

"I'll be a lot less stressed by the time this day is over." The bluenette laughed.

Even when he hadn't had class at all today, the art teacher's hands were still covered in dried paint. "Do you have any plans for Christmas?"

"Just spending time with my fiancée. We're expecting by the end of the year."

"You're a bit young for all that." The older man sat down in a chair.

 _Why is he even here if he isn't going to interact with anyone?_ Nagisa finished eating his cookie. The door opened, and with it came a voice Nagisa had grown to dread. Narayama looked like he was going to throw up.

"Well hello, everybody! I brought the cake!"

It was one of the people Nagisa came to investigate. Shintaro Nakagawa. Trailing behind him was Fuyuki Shibata, Nagisa's other target.

Everyone cheered and high-fived. The free alcohol was taking its effects.

As the infamous duo set the cake down on the long table, Nakagawa went straight to the open bar and avoided eye contact with either of them.

Nakagawa and Shibata stood at the front of the room, and clapped to demand attention. Nagisa twitched. He knew he wasn't going to like whatever he heard.

"We have… mixed news." The tall English teacher frowned. Everyone turned to listen.

" _An Adventure in Kyoto_ was a huge hit. Tickets sold out quickly. But," He turned to his partner in crime, prompting him to nod. "We don't have a sufficient budget for our next show, nine months from now."

"What's your next show?" The drunken biology teacher called out.

"Well, we wanted to write our own script and make a new play from scratch." He really played the part of the heartbroken artist quite well. No wonder he was interested in theatre. "But sadly, it looks like we'll have to perform _Romeo and Juliet_ again. Unless," He gestured to the board, where he wrote _Accepting donations_. "We get some help."

Nagisa twitched again. So they were asking for charity, and they didn't want him to know. Nagisa was surrounded by educators who threw each other glances, as if to ask if anyone else would be donating.

When he got no response, Nakagawa continued to force a smile. "Come talk to me or Shibata if you're interested. We need all the help we can get."

The party went on after that. Nagisa floated between different groups of teachers, avoiding Shibata and Nakagawa. He learned quite a bit about their personal lives. Drunk chemistry teacher was on his third marriage. Drunk First Year history teacher was a former beauty pageant queen.

Out of the corner of his blue eyes, Nagisa saw Shibata approach Narayama. Forced to turn his attention to them, he read the drama teacher's lips.

 _"It was a good decision to come. Now, act normal."_

He punctuated the interaction with a condescending pat on the shoulder. Nagisa felt sick, and almost jumped out of his skin when the head of the history department spoke to him.

"Nagisa? We're out of paper plates. You have young legs; can you get us some more?"

"Huh?"

"They're in the storage room."

Nagisa almost spat out his coffee. "Isn't that locked?"

"Not on the last day of every trimester."

 _Ah._ Nagisa filed this fact away in his brain. "Okay, I'll get them." He took a look around to assure that his targets did not see him leave.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nagisa's twelve students faced their own struggles in the gymnasium. And faced them quite well, actually. Their sensei would be proud.

Toshima took a breath after finishing off the last question on the math exam. He looked around at the sea of faces. He spotted some of his old friends, who stopped speaking to him after he landed in 3-5. They had anxious faces and they still looked at their tests. _The best revenge really is living well…_ The teen suppressed a smirk.

He saw Takemura and Kagato focused on their exams, but they didn't seem perplexed or annoyed. Izumoto wasn't staring out the window, and Banno wasn't on the verge of crying. It looked like Shisaki was almost near the end of the exam booklet.

Toshima felt his heart go light with satisfaction. They weren't worthless. They could succeed. They did have a future, like Shiota-sensei told them months ago...

"The math section of the exam is over. Now, please close your booklets, pass them to the left, and wait for the English exam to begin."

* * *

 _I swear I need a twelve-step program to get away from this damn room_ , Nagisa opened the door. It was dark, he didn't even bother fumbling for the light switch because he knew he couldn't reach it.

The plates were in plain sight, right on the shelves. There were also plastic utensils and napkins. School supplies, utensils, evidence of crimes... It seemed like everything ended up in this place.

More footsteps approached. The blue-haired man seized up when he heard the voice that accompanied them.

"Of course I left it there. People use this room near Christmas." Dammit, it was _them_.

Instinctively, Nagisa muted his phone. He once again played the hiding game and got in the corner, using the cardboard boxes to shield himself.

Something that he heard was said in the theatre came to mind. _If you can see the audience, they can see you._ He scooted back so that he couldn't see his targets. The door shut.

"We're just lucky there are no security cameras in this room."

Well, Nagisa had to admit that he was lucky for that as well. If he were found to be sneaking around, his contract wouldn't be renewed.

"So how much do we have now?" The awkward silence ended with Nakagawa's voice, smooth as honey.

"Shut the fuck up. Unless you want everyone nearby to find out about the money?" The drama teacher whispered.

Nagisa gasped soundlessly. They were stealing money from the school!?

Well, that did make sense. That would explain why they were asking for donations and why they could afford to pay hush money to Narayama. But there had to be more to it than that. That couldn't be the full story, Nagisa's heart told him. There was something more sinister about this whole shebang. What about Akari? How did she factor into their plans?

"Don't be silly, there's no one here. They're all at the party."

"You never know. Don't be an idiot."

"Hey, remember that time I saved your ass when you couldn't make it to the staff meeting?" The handsome man got defensive.

"Touché. I was too busy, uh… _convincing_ that little art teacher of ours to keep quiet."

Nagisa breathed slowly, clutching the paper plates. He heard the pair fumbling around. It went on for quite a while, probably seven minutes or more.

"Yeah, you're right. There's no one here. So we can talk freely." The assassin heard a creaking noise as Shibata sat down. "Remember. Phase two of the plan begins on when we get back from break. I expect you to be prepared by January 8th, so we can start early."

"But that's when the new season of Love Live airs!"

Nagisa heard a slap. He assumed that was Shibata facepalming. "As to why I don't just do this myself is a mystery."

"S-sorry. I'll just watch it online later."

Another pause.

"What are we going to do about Haruna Mase?" Nakagawa inquired.

Shibata sighed, and Nagisa could tell without looking that he rolled his eyes. He must be the brains of the operation. "Our hands are kind of tied. She's on hiatus, and our attempt to pull her out into the public fell flat."

"So?"

"So we're just going to have to try again."

Nagisa felt the pit of his stomach drop. _You'll get close to her over my cold, dead body._ He felt his face pull itself into a scowl.

His targets walked out of the room. Nagisa waited until he could no longer hear their footsteps to leave, and took the long route back to the math room.

* * *

Once he was comfortably at his destination, Nagisa silently put the plates on the table. He unmuted his phone to discover five texts from Akari.

 **The forecast changed. The storm is starting tonight and continuing through tomorrow.**

 **It starts at 6.**

 **We're also getting 8-10 feet of snow.**

 **Hurry home. Text me when you leave.**

 **I love you.**

 _I love you too_ , he thought as he collected himself. He somehow ended up leaving without dirty looks from the culprits.

 _Good. At least they don't know I heard them._

* * *

After that eventful day, Nagisa waited in line at the grocery store. It was packed, everyone was preparing for the storm. He should have considered that, but his mind was too full of a million other things. He carried his basket on one arm, moving forward half a step and checking the time on his phone. 5:34.

As he walked out of the train station, it already started snowing. Nagisa didn't dare run home, at risk of tripping on ice, so he was subject to snowflakes getting caught in his hair and soaking his head.

Nagisa finally made his way in the flat, door tightly locked, shoes off, and heating on. He was greeted with a worried hug from his fiancée.

"Are you okay?" She fussed over him, taking his coat off.

"It's a long story..."

He and Akari slid into matching warm fuzzy pajamas and sat down to enjoy each other's embrace while Nagisa filled her in on what they were dealing with now.

* * *

 **Please give me some feedback on this chapter, because I'm not sure I like the way it came out. What do you think?**


	32. Chapter 32

**I always kinda liked Kimura (Even though he has like one discernible personality trait), so I decided to give him a bigger role in this story.**

* * *

"Hmm." Akari shifted and sat cross-legged. "So they're stealing money from the school. But how do I factor into this?" She took out a notebook and began scribbling notes. "Do they want to steal _my_ money?"

"Or something even worse…" Nagisa shuddered.

"I'll warn my staff that someone's out to get me, but they'll probably just laugh it off and think 'Hey, that's every day for you, Haruna-sama'." Akari leaned back on the couch. She rubbed her temples. "Ugh. Let's call the police. I think that's the only thing we can do before it escalates."

"They can't do anything if it's hearsay. And there's no proof that they've done anything yet."

"But we have a friend on the force…"

Nagisa and Akari debated when the best time to call Kimura would be. After all, police officers don't work 9-5 shifts like most people. They decided to wait until 8 p.m. and asked Ritsu for his number.

"Hello? Justice Kimura speaking."

"Hey, this is Nagisa and Kayano. Do you have a moment? I hope we didn't interrupt an emergency-"

"Nope! No calls to the station at all. Everyone's staying inside because of this snowstorm." Their old classmate laughed. "What is it that you need help with?"

"Are you in a private place? This is pretty secret." Nagisa placed his cell phone on the table. It was on speakerphone so that Akari could hear and contribute to the conversation.

"Yeah. I'm at my apartment. They let me go home because it was so slow." The assassin-teacher and actress couldn't see it, but Kimura lay down on the hardwood floor of his apartment. His girlfriend had left a few hours ago, before the snowfall started, to get back to her parents' home. "I'm completely alone."

"Okay," Nagisa took a breath. "It all started back in April…"

Nagisa told his old classmate every single detail of the mystery, careful not to exclude any relevant information.

"I've even been in contact with Karasuma about it." Nagisa admitted. "But we haven't made any real progress."

"Hmm." Kimura was grateful that he'd thought to take notes. "Here's the issue: I'm just a grunt right now. They don't give any authority to twenty-three year olds fresh out of the police academy. I can't start an investigation on my own."

"Oh." Nagisa disappointment was obvious.

"And here's the bigger issue: Those guys you're talking about, Shibata and Nakagawa, are friends with most of the higher ups in the police force."

"Crap," The student teacher gulped.

"Don't get me wrong, I never liked them either. They always gave off that aura, like you couldn't trust them. As if you wouldn't want to be alone in a room with them. So I'm, in a weird way, kind of relieved that I wasn't just imagining things."

"So we're screwed?"

"Not entirely. I'll try to get the opportunity to patrol the area at the beginning of the next semester. And I'll see if anyone else on the lower echelon of the police force if they agree about distrusting those assholes too, and we'll work from there. Okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks, it really means a lot." Akari chimed in from the other room.

"Thanks for the info, I'm glad to know what's happening in this town. Give me your number so I can text you if any developments occur."

Nagisa gave Kimura his number and ended the call. He leaned back in his chair. It was already 9:03 p.m.

Nagisa got up and leaned on the wall. He glanced out the glass sliding door. "Akari? Sorry for the abrupt change of attitude, but you might want to see this."

The couple looked outside. Their balcony was already covered in almost two feet of snow!

"It's beautiful." Akari wore her blanket like a cape as she walked over to the window.

Nagisa wrapped an arm around her. "Like our family."

The internationally acclaimed actress returned his affection with a hug. "We'll get through this. You'll see."

* * *

The snow did not melt the next day, as it was -12 degrees Celsius. Nagisa and Akari woke up at 10 and stumbled into the kitchen, still half asleep.

Akari put her hands on her belly. "She's shifting. I can feel her getting ready to come out."

Nagisa placed his hands over hers for the millionth time in the last nine months. "I can feel it too." He got on his knees and kissed his daughter. "Mommy and Daddy are ready to see you."

The cute family moment was interrupted with a _ding_ from Nagisa's phone. It was a text from Kimura.

 **It's just as I thought. Everyone here, including all the other peons, love those two. Dammit. So it looks like we're on our own.**

"Okay, we just have to work with what we have." Nagisa said with resolve.

* * *

Nagisa finally finished grading the research papers. There was not a single grade below a C. He looked at his phone, it read 10:07 in the morning on December 24th. Pleased with his progress, he went to the balcony. He stopped to put his boots on.

The snow hadn't entirely melted, but it had at least shrank enough to go outdoors. He stepped outside, leaving bootprints in the crunchy top layer of the remaining snow. It was cold, but not quite as bone-chilling as yesterday.

He watched as people passed by on the street. Since he was too far away to discern any features, the blue-haired man wondered if any of them could be his students, but he filed that thought away almost immediately. They were probably still sleeping, or hanging out somewhere where there was no chance of them getting found.

He hoped they were proud of all that they'd accomplished within the past year. Their grades had increased significantly, they were getting into trouble much less, and their individual talents were brought into the light. Nagisa's thoughts drifted to Koro-sensei again. Was this what he felt like when 3-E succeeded?

Nagisa heard an approach from behind him, and felt a poke on the shoulder.

Akari. She interlocked her fingers with his and joined his silent contemplation.

"I think your students are too tired from exams to do much of anything this morning." The fog rose from Akari's breath.

"How did you know that was what I was thinking about?"

"You have that look on your face when you worry about your class. I can't quite replicate it, but it's like the one Koro-sensei had when he stood in front of us at the beginning of the day."

The pair of former assassins went inside, closed the sliding door tight, and spent the day straightening out the baby's room.

* * *

Nagisa opened his eyes. It was Christmas morning. He looked at his lover, who was leaning on him, still asleep.

Nagisa ran a few fingers through her hair. She stirred a bit, but went back to sleep.

Not wanting to bother his pregnant fiancée, Nagisa settled in and got lost in his thoughts.

What lessons would he teach his own daughter? He'd teach her how to use chopsticks, how to walk, how to say 'daddy'… He was a teacher, and a really good one, he wanted to think. He should be prepared for all that. He read and re-read those books on how to lay a baby down to sleep dozens of times. He was ready to write down lesson plans on all the steps to take when crossing the road.

But teaching your child how to grow up was a different art than teaching seventeen year-old delinquents to balance chemical equations.

He was pulled out of his reverie by a kiss on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, Nagisa." Akari's eyes were bright and adoring.

"Merry Christmas to you too." He pulled her closer, kissing her face.

The pair was in the living room thirty minutes later, each holding a wrapped present.

"Do you want to go first?" He offered his gift to her. She nodded, taking it.

She gently ripped off the paper, as if she were afraid of breaking it. It was a laundry basket (theirs had broken a week prior) filled with mountain-scented candles, an octopus pincushion for her sewing needles, and plenty of her favorite sweets.

"Nagisa," She began to stutter, then wrapped him in a warm hug. "Thank you. You're perfect."

After wiping away tears, Akari handed him her gift, in a bag. "Your turn."

Taking an example from her, he gently removed his as well, placing the discarded paper in a pile to his side. It was hiding an oversize blue sweater, the color of his eyes. Upon unraveling it, it had a yellow octopus pattern all over.

"I knitted it myself while you were at work. So he can be with you."

"Koro-sensei…" Nagisa breathed. Without warning, he began to cry too, and he was embraced by Akari. And they cried together, their tears intermingling and falling to the floor. But wasn't like when they found out they were expecting, or when they recalled Aguri speaking in Akari's dreams. It had a different quality to it.

* * *

"Akari! Our reservation is at 4:30, are you ready?"

"Give me a minute," Akari called from the other room.

When she made her appearance, she was in her old 'Kayano' disguise. Her green hair and the perfume she used to wear made them both feel nostalgic. Her big red coat was a nice touch that made her a little more festive.

"Just like old times," Nagisa took her hand. "Ready?"

"Ready."

Pulling on his own winter coat (green to match hers), Nagisa walked out the door, hand in hand with Akari, and walked to the local KFC.

They passed other couples on the street, who nodded and smiled. A young child pointed to Akari's belly, gasping "Look Mommy! She's having a baby!"

The couple laughed playfully. When they arrived at the restaurant, they gave their name to the greeters and waited to be seated.

Nagisa, chewing on a drumstick, looked around at his surroundings. They had luckily got a reservation for early enough so that the restaurant was not overly crowded, but there were still a few patrons milling about.

Akari piled cole slaw onto her plate. "Remember our last Christmas?"

Nagisa blushed slightly that she brought that up _in public_. "Yeah, I had just moved in with you." It got rather… _explicit_ very quickly after that.

"And what happened after that?"

"We came here and got food." He grabbed a biscuit and dipped it in gravy.

"And look at us now, already with a family." Akari nodded in satisfaction. "Well, if there's one thing we've both learned since you-know-when, it's that a lot can happen in a year."

"And even more can happen in seven years." Nagisa reached across the table to hold her hand. "I wonder what he's thinking now."

"He'd probably pop up right next to us, fuss over the baby, and steal some food. Then we'd have a lengthy discussion about your teaching methods." Akari giggled. "I'm sure he's proud."

The rest of their night was spent indoors, curled up under the same blanket while rubbing each other's backs and cuddling to cheesy romance movies. Kaede was very energetic again, kicking whenever her parents least expected it.

* * *

"Ahh~" Karma stretched out on their couch. He used a nearby magazine to fan himself. "You've betrayed me, Kayano."

"Huh?"

"I was hoping you'd go into labor early, so my niece and I could be birthday buddies." He gasped theatrically, now sitting upright. "How could you do this to me?"

"I'm not really in control of that…" Akari sipped her eggnog.

"I know, I'm just teasing you." He chuckled, patting her head.

Nagisa sat in the rocking chair, scrolling through 3-E's group chat. The ballroom was reserved for the reunion, thanks to Kataoka pulling some strings. Now everyone owed her 15,000 yen. Nagisa took a note on his phone to pay her at the reunion.

Nagisa rocked back and forth gently. No wonder Akari loved this thing. The blanket that she was knitting for Kaede sat in Nagisa's lap. He kept one hand on it, as if to comfort himself. "Karma, we have some leftover fried chicken that we were about to heat up. Do you want some?"

"Yes."

As Nagisa went out into the kitchen, Karma continued to chat with Akari.

"So I hear you've been bumping into some old friends recently, huh?"

"Oh?" Akari had forgotten that they hadn't talked to Karma in a month. "We sure have. It's really made us realize how much time had passed. And, how much we're grown."

"Wish I had that opportunity to feel nostalgic." The handsome man sat back down. "I don't see the rest of E Class much anymore. Or anyone from that year, for that matter." Karma looked out the window. "My best friend is off teaching seventeen year olds to brush their teeth and not to steal cars, the girl who I always knew was going to marry him is a big A-list star, and both my rival and my partner in crime are one quarter of the globe away."

"Karma, I don't need to teach these kids to brush their teeth, they know that much." Nagisa took the chicken and potatoes out of the microwave, careful not to burn himself. "And why no mention of Okuda, huh? When was your most recent date with her?"

Karma's face was as red as his hair. "I never said we were dating!"

"You didn't need to say it." The bluenette wore a big smile as he walked into the living room, carrying platefuls of chicken. "Akari texts Okuda every now and then. We know all about how you visit her in the lab."

"Anyway," Karma tried to change the subject. "What's going on at school? Besides the whole thing with those creepy teachers."

"I get the results of the exams back in January." Nagisa sat next to his red-haired friend. "I'm trying not to worry too much about it. We weren't given any sort of ultimatum this time, so all I've got to be concerned about is their improvement." He placed a bunch of napkins on the coffee table. "It's great to not have to pay mind to what the rest of the school thinks."

"That's the policy you have to adopt. As for me, well, the bureaucrats are finally on vacation." Karma hummed, reaching for a napkin. "Which for them means more partying. Count me out. I'd rather spend that time with people who won't stab me in the back."

"You go back to work on January 8th like me, right?"

"Yes. Plenty of time to mentally prepare myself for this proposed law about how long to stop at a traffic light." He rolled his golden eyes.

"Oh, that reminds me, do you know anything about what happened at the local municipal building?" Nagisa thought he might be able to gather more clues.

"Yeah, I heard." The prankster shook his head. "I didn't think there'd be corruption in Kunugigaoka."

"What else do you know?"

"Nothing. They're still under investigation."

Dammit. Nothing more to go off of.

Everyone having finished their food, Akari began to stand to gather the plates. She only got about halfway up before she cried a muffled sob and used the table to push herself up. She noticeably struggled to walk to the kitchen.

Karma giggled obnoxiously. "Kayano, did you just pee yourself!?"

Akari stood frozen, slowly turning red. Fluid was indeed running down her legs. She put her hand over her abdomen, cringing in pain.

Nagisa flushed and felt his heartbeat overtake all other sounds.

"No, her water just broke!"


	33. Chapter 33

**I hate to do this because I was really excited to write the next few chapters, but my next update might not be for a while. I just finished a fifteen page research paper, had to call the passport agency like three times, I have two papers to revise, another research paper to write (but it's on anime so I'm quite excited for that), and two group projects. Which is also why I haven't updated for like a week. I'll try to get in one more chapter before the end of the semester, but I can't promise that. So please don't be too upset with me if my next update is in mid-December, but after my finals end (December 15th) I'll go back to updating every 1-2 days.**

 **Author's note: In Japan, fathers generally aren't allowed in the room when their children are born**. **Also the jab at Love Live is affectionate, I swear.**

* * *

"I'll drive you." Karma went into the bathroom to get a towel, while Nagisa rushed to Akari's side.

"Akari!? Oh my goodness, are you okay!?"

"No!" She choked out. "I'm pushing a human out of me!"

Karma came in with a towel and rushed them both into his car.

Akari stopped in the doorway. "Someone please fix my hair."

"I'll handle it in the car." Nagisa reassured her.

In the car, Akari struggled to put in a pair of contacts while Nagisa fixed her hair.

"Dammit Nagisa," She hiccuped. "This is horrifying. I'm about to _give birth_. Why did you do this to me!?"

"I'm… Sorry?" Nagisa couldn't quite get her hair right.

Karma ran his fingers through his silky hair. "Do you two need a room? Because you're not getting one until after this red light ends."

The December weather outside was bone chilling and icy, but it was quite warm in the maternity ward of the hospital. Akari was quite pleased with this. The trio went straight to the front desk.

"Akari Yukimura. I'm in labor at 39 weeks." The black-haired woman handed over her I.D.

The receptionist took a long look at it, then handed it back. "Sit down, we'll call you in a few minutes." She took another look at Akari's belly. "Yeah, you can't go home. You're ready to pop."

Nagisa, Akari, and Karma sat in the chairs. Nagisa handed his phone to Karma.

"Call my parents. And Satoshi. Tell them what's happening. And don't change your name to 'drug dealer' in my contacts."

"Got it." The idea honestly hadn't even occurred to Karma. He filed that little bit of inspiration away for literally any other day.

Nagisa and Akari held hands. Akari kept her other hand on her belly. "I haven't felt another one yet." Just as she said that, she cringed again and cried out in pain. Nagisa let her squeeze his hand.

Karma sat next to his friends and made the requested calls. Satoshi stepped out of a meeting with business people (yes, at this time of night). Hiromi dropped the pan full of gyoza she was frying. Nagisa's father walked out in the middle of a shower.

"Akari Yukimura, we'll take you in room seven."

Nagisa reluctantly took his hand away from Akari's as she walked to the room designated to her.

She looked at him with affection, then kissed his cheek. "We'll meet her soon enough."

Akari was finally in a hospital gown, her hair down and contacts out. All these nurses had been sworn to secrecy, and the obstetrician was of course her trusted Dr. Ishikawa.

"We're calling your obstetrician right now." The nurse's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Please do something for the pain."

"You think you're in pain now? Just you wait." The older woman laughed.

Akari gasped as the nurses wheeled her away on the hospital bed. This was going to get _worse_?

Akari raised her hand to her mouth to muffle her scream of agony as another wave of pain washed over her.

In the waiting room, the blue and red haired men sat. Nagisa's mind was racing. This was a feeling he'd never felt before. He was about to become a father.

Karma pulled out his own phone and updated the group chat. Nagisa's phone continued to buzz every thirty seconds, but only Karma read the chat. He got a call, which he was expecting given the massive amount of responses in the group chat.

Karma sighed into the phone. "Rio, I have no answers yet. We were all hanging out about an hour ago, and her water broke. And we got her to the hospital as quickly as possible."

Some unintelligible muttering came from the other end. Nagisa paid no attention to it, in fact he didn't even notice that the conversation was occurring. All he could hear was his heart pounding.

"Thirty-nine weeks is practically full term. And the receptionist says it's time."

A loud primal scream erupted from the hall. Nagisa recognized that as Akari, even though he'd never heard her scream like that before. Not even when she was impaled by the False God of Death.

"Yes, and yes. She's so miserable she damn near strangled Nagisa on the way over here." Karma went on.

There was dead silence. No one breathed. There was another scream coming from the delivery room. Karma sighed again, and drew it out this time.

"He's right here with me, but I don't think that's a good idea. He's got so much on his mind. He looks like he's gonna tear up that seat cushion. I just don't know what you could say that he'd want to hear at this time. His mind is full of Kayano and the baby."

And with that, he pressed the 'hang up' button and got his coat back on. "I'm going to the train station to walk Okuda. She wants to be here. Is that okay?"

"Yeah." The bluenette curtly nodded. Little did he know, his red-haired friend took calls from almost all for their classmates while he walked to the train station.

Nagisa's mother barged in fifteen minutes later, a mess.

"Nagisa!" She bawled. She wrapped her arms around her son.

"Hi mom," He gasped for breath.

Hiromi put her purse on one of the seats. "Your father will be here in thirty minutes. He stopped to pick something up." Hiromi tapped her heel on the carpeted floor. "How are my daughter-in-law and the baby?"

"It's only been forty-five minutes. So we don't know."

"This could take a while." Hiromi sat down.

Karma and Okuda arrived (Karma giving Nagisa's mom the side eye as he still didn't trust her after everything she did while they were in 3-E), then Nagisa's father came bearing a basket full of gifts for the baby. Satoshi was there twenty minutes after them.

The old man put his coat on the chair. "I rushed over. The traffic is insane."

It was then that their friends began to visit. First Kanzaki, then Isogai, then Sugino, then Kataoka and Hara and Kurahashi. None of them could stay for long, but they all showed their support for their old classmates and comrades.

Nagisa looked around. It was 1 a.m. He ascertained that there was no one else in the waiting room but himself, Karma, Okuda, his parents, and the receptionist. The Christmas decorations were still strung up, and a little tree sat in the middle, festooned with ornaments.

Nagisa sat down. Once again, there was nothing to go but to wait.

* * *

Toshima was sitting on his bed, leaning back against the wall. It was too quiet. His sister was off partying with her friends. He hoped she would actually come home before midnight this time. They lived in one of the better parts of town, but who knew where she ran off to or who they met up with.

He looked around his room. There was no good anime airing this season. He couldn't wait for Love Live season 23. Bored, he decided to text Kazama.

 **Hey dude, are you doing anything right now?**

He waited on a response.

 **No. Wanna hang out?**

He typed a response ahead of time and hit send.

 **Sure.**

He got a response within a few seconds.

 **What do you want to do?**

He thought for a second.

 **Wanna go downtown? We can find something to do there.**

Toshima got his coat on, texted his sister that he didn't know when he'd be home, and was careful to lock the door behind him.

* * *

Karma checked his phone. _Wednesday, December 27th. 7:03 a.m._ He rubbed his eyes. He looked to his right. Okuda was curled up and leaning against him, passed out. He looked to his left. Nagisa was very much awake, and looked frazzled.

"Nagisa?"

No response.

"Nagisa?"

Nagisa just stared at the floor.

"Nagisa!"

Nagisa jumped. "What is it Karma?" Okuda stirred and began to open her eyes.

"It's 7 a.m."

Nagisa noticed now that the dawn light was filtering in through the curtains. "It's only been 11 hours…"

Nagisa had heard stories of births taking as many as fifty hours. But his mother was only in labor with him for twelve hours. So there was no telling how much longer this would be. Nagisa practiced the breathing exercises Koro-sensei had taught him. Inhale, _one, two, three_. Exhale, _four, five, six_.

"Hey Nagisa?"

"Uh-huh?"

"I'm going to go get us some coffee. What do you want?"

"The strongest they have. Cream and sugar, please."

"Got it."

Okuda got up and stretched. "I'll come with you."

Nagisa was left sitting with both of his parents. They sat in silence for a moment, then Nagisa's mom spoke.

"Good thing I don't work this week."

"None of us do." Nagisa's father stared out the window, biting his fingernails. He had woken up a few hours ago and watched the sunrise. In fact, Nagisa and Karma were the only two people in the room who did not sleep at all.

Nagisa nodded slowly, then got up and started pacing.

And that's what he did for the next thirteen hours.

* * *

Toshima and Kazama were hiding in an alleyway after being pursued by a gang of delinquents.

Toshima sat hunched over. "Dude. I know you think you're hardcore but maybe flipping off the guys who shouted 'anime sucks' wasn't the best idea."

"Ehh. Hindsight's twenty-twenty." Kazama coughed. "So we've been out all night. What do you want to do now?"

"Go indoors. I'm surprised we didn't die of hypothermia."

"Let's go to my parents' café. We can warm up there."

The Kazama family's café was a little place, but all the town's residents held it in high esteem. The hot chocolate was a local legend, but it was only available four months out of the year. For some reason, today it was empty.

The pair of friends sat down on the barstools. "Two hot chocolates, please." Kazama spoke to his older sister, who worked her on breaks from school.

A couple that walked in caught their eyes. A tall, handsome red-haired man and a very attractive short woman with black hair in a braid. Both of them looked somewhat familiar, like they were from around here or were on the news or something.

They went to the barstools and ordered six coffees to go. It looked like they had friends.

The woman adjusted her glasses, which were rather flattering on her. "I bet we'll be babysitting a lot."

"I hope so. I want to get to know my niece well." The man pulled out his wallet and left the money for the coffee plus a tip on the counter top.

Several more moments passed with no dialogue. Kazama decided just to say what was on his mind, which was a bad trait of his.

"Good thing Shiota-sensei didn't assign us any homework over the break. I guess he's not that bad after all."

"Shiota-sensei?" The red-haired man inquired. Toshima was a little bit concerned that this stranger was listening in on their conversation.

"Yes, our teacher." Kazama answered.

"Nagisa Shiota, by any chance?"

"Yeah, him."

The strange man brought his hand to his mouth to muffle a giggle, then it seeped out and he succumbed to a huge fit that ended when the couple's coffee was put in front of them.

"Ahh, an old friend of mine. He's a real killer."

The older couple left, leaving the teenagers to contemplate what exactly he meant by that.

* * *

8:33 p.m. When Nagisa was on his 800th lap around the waiting room, Karma finally spoke up.

"Nagisa. Sit down. You're stressing yourself out even more."

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

Hiromi got up and wiped the sweat off of her son's face with a handkerchief. "When's the last time you ate?"

"I don't remember…" Dark bags were forming under Nagisa's eyes.

"I'll get you some food. What would you like to eat?"

"Some sushi, please."

As Nagisa's mom left, the nurse walked into the waiting room. Nagisa jumped again. "How is she?"

The nurse fiddled with her glasses. "It's taking way longer than expected. We're at hour 24."

"Is Akari okay?"

"She's perfectly healthy, if that's what you're asking. She's falling asleep between contractions. But the baby doesn't seem to want to budge."

"What are you doing?" Nagisa's heart pounded.

"Everything we can, short of a c-section."

And another night passed. The occasional cry from Akari would interrupt whatever inane stories Nagisa's parents told him about when he was a baby.

* * *

Nagisa checked his phone for the first time in an eternity. _8:03 a.m. Thursday, December 28th._ He and Akari had been awake for forty-five hours. The nurse came into the waiting room for what must have been the twelfth time. Nagisa jumped out of his seat.

"This is hour 36." The nurse, Nagisa had learned that her name was Hiroko, caught her breath. "We don't usually do this, but considering who the mother is, we've decided to make an exception. You've been requested."

"Huh?"

"Your fiancée wants you to be there." Hiroko rolled her eyes at Nagisa's denseness.

Nagisa drew in a sharp breath. "Yes. I'd love too. _Please._ "

Nagisa's friends and family looked on, having never seen this before. Nagisa's parents were still ignorant of the truth behind their daughter-in-law's identity. But Karma, knowing the truth, found it amusing that a hospital would grant special privileges to Haruna Mase. Satoshi just started smoking a cigarette.

Nagisa followed the nurse into room seven, where Akari was sitting on the hospital bed. She was propped up by pillows, as she didn't have the energy to sit up on her own. This was one of the rare moments between contractions, so she reached out to her fiancé.

"Akari," Nagisa never felt this emotion before. It was panic, concern, love, passion, and apprehension all at once. He touched Akari's hair. She really was the most beautiful woman in the world. She looked at him tenderly.

Then another contraction hit. Akari grabbed Nagisa's hand and crushed all the bones in it. She wailed in agony.

"Akari you're hurting me," Nagisa weakly protested. She just squeezed harder.

"You don't know the meaning of pain!"

In her other hand, she felt something warm and gentle. She thought she heard a voice, one she loved to hear, though she only heard it in her dreams anymore.

 _It's okay, sis. This will be over before you know it. Just do as the doctor says._

"Okay, Akari dear. We can see the baby's head. Push on the count of three." The doctor instructed. Akari frantically nodded in tears.

"One, two, _three_ -"

* * *

After twelve more hours of that, Akari gave one final push and promptly passed out.

Nagisa's heart stopped. "Is she okay!?"

"She's just fainted. That's really common, especially if you've been in labor for this long. But your daughter is here."

Nagisa's eyes darted around the room for her. She was being taken away by the doctors. He felt his bloodlust surface. But this time, it was less about attacking and more about defending.

The nurse noticed it and began to feel intimidated. "They're just going to make sure she's healthy, calm down."

"What about Akari?"

"We're waiting for the placenta to come out."

When it finally did, Nagisa threw up.

* * *

The infant was handed to Nagisa. His breath was taken away.

"She's perfect." Was all he could say. She had Akari's face. She had a few wisps of black hair and was a little pink in the face. She wasn't misshapen, like so many pictures he'd seen of newborns. She had many of his features too, like her nose and ears.

Nagisa held the newborn close to him, as if someone might take her away. He watched her belly rise and fall with each breath. He pressed his lips to her forehead. Her eyes weren't even open yet, that was how new she was to the world. Yet Nagisa felt like he'd known her all his life, even since he was her age. She smelled sweet, like Akari did.

Nagisa could have sworn he'd felt Koro-sensei's presence in the room. He felt pride. _Koro-sensei, please watch over her. You and Aguri-sensei._

The new father brought his first child up to his face, so that she could touch his face. Kaede ran a hand across his cheek. Nagisa liked to believe it was intentional, that she did it because she recognized who he was. She began to cry.

"Shh." Nagisa began to rock back and forth. "Daddy's here." He spoke to her softly. What should be the first words she heard? "I'm Daddy. Daddy loves you."

Akari stirred next to him. She tried to speak, tried to push herself up, but she didn't have the strength to do either of those things yet. So she poked Nagisa in the side.

He met her brown eyes with a delicate blue, and gently handed their princess to her. Akari cradled their daughter. _Kaede_ , she mouthed. Nagisa fell in love with her all over again.

The baby looked up at them. Nagisa's heart felt like it was on fire.


	34. Chapter 34

**At this point, I would like to give a shout out to everyone who's reviewed my work/fave'd/followed thus far. It really inspires me to see that you all appreciate the brain children I share. Honestly, this plot bunny has been bouncing around in my head every day since I binge read the entire AssClass manga in May of 2016 but I was too self-conscious to write it. Best decision I made in 2017 was to go ahead with it.**

 **Anyways. I'm not sure about this chapter. I wrote it on a study break from finals and papers, so I may rewrite parts of it later if deemed necessary. So please let me know what you think of it.**

 **And if you're wondering, Fake Smiles is still alive. I'm trying to post at least one update every month but that didn't happen in November.**

* * *

Nagisa reclined back on the couch, cradling his daughter on his chest. He glanced at the clock next to him. _2:23 am, December 31st._ It hadn't even been three days yet. Akari was sleeping soundly in their bedroom.

He pulled out her birth certificate and studied it for the millionth time. _Kaede Shiota. Born December 28th, 2023, 8:06 p.m. at Takebayashi General Hospital in Kunugigaoka. 2.7 kg._ It was the most important document ever to Nagisa.

The baby started to cry. Nagisa got on the rocking chair to soothe her. She continued to cry; Nagisa just hoped that whatever she was upset about, she wasn't hungry. Akari hadn't slept in almost a week, she needed this time to herself. She didn't even seem this tired after Koro-sensei brought her back from the dead.

Nagisa felt a soft presence approach him. She gave a little cough.

"How is my family?" Nagisa turned around to find Akari's sweet smile. The bags under her eyes had somewhat faded after her series of eight hour naps.

"You didn't have to come. I took care of it." He handed the freshly cleaned and changed baby to Akari.

"I missed both of you." She held the baby and stared at her with such love. "Plus I think she wants to eat."

Nagisa and Akari sat on the couch while she breastfed Kaede. The only light was the light from the clock on the side table.

"I like this." Akari broke the silence.

"Meaning?"

"Just the three of us. Sitting like this. As a family. Not that I don't appreciate all the visitors we've had the past two days-" She looked down at her daughter, who grabbed a handful of her hair. "-But it's nice to take a moment for just the three of us to bond."

Nagisa nodded. Akari could see it out of the corner of her eye in spite of the dark. Their flat was swarmed all of yesterday and the day before, and their guests only left two hours ago. His parents, Satoshi, Karma and Okuda, they all took turns fussing over Kaede and falling in love with her. They had even cooked the new parents dinner and helped clean up the flat, and watched the baby so that Nagisa and Akari could get some much needed sleep. Nagisa's heart was warmed that their baby was so loved, but it felt stressful to have to entertain all those people after spending more than two days in the hospital.

"Are you still in pain?" Nagisa inched closer and wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder. The doctor said she'd be uncomfortable and tired for over a month.

"Yes, agonizing. But I don't mind now that she's here. It's all worth it."

Nagisa and Akari sat for another half an hour, then when the baby fell asleep they put her to bed and took a nap themselves before they were awoken again.

"Let's start sending out invitations for the wedding soon." Akari breathed as they fell into a slumber.

* * *

New Year's Eve was a bitterly cold day, but none of them left the house, so that didn't matter. The family woke up in the early morning, and did their new morning routine. They got up at six, cleaned and changed the baby, Nagisa made breakfast while Akari fed her, and they watched the morning news.

"It's slow recently." Nagisa observed while frying eggs.

"I don't know how many times we've heard about that snowstorm." Akari set the table. "It's been a week, I'm shocked they're still cleaning up."

Hours later, Akari sat on the couch with Kaede in her arms, wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket she'd knitted. She was waiting for the water for the udon to finish boiling. Nagisa was next to her, singing gently to their daughter. It was a lullaby his mother used to sing him.

Satoshi leaned against the wall. His presence was calming, all three of them felt protected. The time was passing slowly and none of them minded it. It was like a new stage in life was beginning for them all.

"We're all ready to say goodbye to 2023!" A voice from the television interrupted the family bonding moment.

Nagisa turned away from his child and looked at the TV. New Year's Eve celebrations had begun all around the world. People had gathered in Times Square in New York, ready to watch the ball drop. It looked too crowded for Nagisa's taste, he was glad to be in a warm and clean place and not surrounded by strangers. Crowds reminded him of when E Class was swamped by reporters after Koro-sensei's death.

Nagisa drew out a breath. "And what a year it was." He finally felt like adult, started his career, got engaged, and became a parent. It was true what they said, the older you get, the more the years fly.

"The countdown to midnight has started." Akari called from the living room as Nagisa put the baby in her cradle.

"Okay." Ascertaining that she was fine, he walked into the living room to join Akari and Satoshi.

"Three, two, one-"

* * *

New Year's was supposed to be a day to visit the shrine and pray for a happy and productive new year, but the new family stayed inside and received more visitors. They had an almost paranoid fear of exposing their little cherub-faced angel to the cold and the outside. Full of germs and things that could hurt her. Who wouldn't be protective of something so precious, they rationalized.

The next few days passed at the same pace, and the reunion was upon them now. The banquet hall seemed to get bigger since Karasuma and Bitch-sensei's wedding. There were rows upon rows of tables with seats, even E Class couldn't fill this whole place. And speaking of whom, their old teachers were here too, sitting at the table towards the front entrance. They nodded to each student in greeting. Karasuma was already beginning to go gray.

Nagisa handed Kataoka the money he and Akari owed her, and looked around at his old friends. The room was abuzz with noise that echoed throughout the hall. It was cozy inside considering the snow on the ground.

True, it had only been a few months since he'd talked to them last, and he kept in regular contact with them via the groupchat, but he was surprised and impressed by the difference in everyone. Everyone seemed taller (except for himself, sadly) and seemed to be walking with a purpose. It felt like they had finally graduated to adulthood.

"Hey Nagisa!" Maehara ruffled his old classmate's hair.

"Hi Maehara." Nagisa coughed, placing a diaper bag on one of the seats. "How's your 'roommate' who happens to be a girl?"

"No talk about girls! I want to impress Okano!" He whispered.

Akari walked next to Nagisa, holding the baby tightly, as if terrified someone might take her and never give her back (she was certainly cute enough for that, everyone thought).

"How's the teaching going?" Isogai patted his back.

"It's wild. I can't believe what I'm getting myself into."

"Have you become the new Koro-sensei yet?"

"I like to think I can carry on his legacy." Nagisa laughed. Isogai made faces at the baby, who cooed.

Nakamura wandered over to the new parents. "Long time no see." She was dressed in stereotypical American clothing.

"Indeed. How was the plane ride over?" Nagisa awaited a comment about him having not grown, but it never came.

"I was hoping to run into Asano in the airport again, but that didn't happen." She chuckled. "Anyways, I think I'm staying in America. I like it too much and I finally got work as an interpreter."

"Glad to hear we're all chugging along."

"But enough about me," Nakamura waved her hand dismissively. "I wanna meet the guest of honor!"

Akari carried Kaede over, taking tiny and slow steps as so not to disturb her.

Hara took her out of Akari's arms. "And who do we have here?"

Kurahashi pinched her cheeks. Okano's face lit up. Hazama stood back with a reluctant expression.

While E Class was pampering the baby, Kimura pulled Nagisa and Akari aside.

"Hey. I found out something. I figured I'd wait to tell you in person." The police officer pulled out his phone. "This happened on New Year's Eve. Luckily I took pictures."

The picture in question was of a room Nagisa did not recognize. But it was a mess. It looked like it had been vandalized. This was beginning to look all too familiar.

"Yes, this was after the police's favorite duo came for a visit." Kimura swiped to reveal closer pictures of the room. There were paint stains covering the walls and broken electronics. There were also empty shelves, as if something were supposed to be there but had been removed. "This is the room where we keep the evidence for crimes."

Nagisa was shuddering in spite of the heating being turned up to maximum.

"I conveniently wasn't there when this happened, I was doing a patrol. So of course I have no proof it was them. But it's a bit too suspicious that this happened right after they left."

"Can't you check the security footage?"

"It mysteriously went missing." Kimura delivered what was, in his opinion, the worst part.

"I'm not surprised." Nagisa put a finger to his chin. "Does anyone else know anything?"

"The chief of police is acting weird. Like, he's refusing to talk to some people since the incident. He just stares at me."

Karasuma had approached them, scaring all three amateur detectives as they did not see him coming. "I haven't had any leads that have come back to those two stooges, but it's the answer that makes the most sense."

"Hmm." The bluenette decided to revive his practice of taking notes on his target, starting with the new trimester.

* * *

Little did Nagisa know, the targets of his investigation had decided to meet up before the new semester commenced.

Nakagawa's house was roomy, pristine, and seemed to shine to someone who did not live there. His wife cleaned it from top to bottom every day and always bought the newest and fanciest products, as if to compensate for her unhappy marriage. Truthfully they wanted to separate years ago, in the midst of a six year long struggle with infertility (before they finally gave up), but she lost her job abruptly and could not afford to support herself. So they remained together, and they cared less and less each day.

Shibata sat down on the barstool at the kitchen countertop. "Thanks for inviting me. My apartment hasn't been cleaned in ages. And the walls are so thin. Not good for clandestiny at all."

"If the backstage office is anything to go by, I believe you." Nakagawa got out a bottle of expensive wine and two glasses.

"Now to check one more thing off the list: the evidence is destroyed." The barstool made Shibata feel a bit taller than usual. He thought to invest in one himself.

"What evidence exactly did you destroy?"

"Everything that needed to go. And the chief doesn't suspect a thing. The tapes are gone, so no proof. Don't give me that look; you could've helped, but you chose to make those phone calls."

"Tch. Anyway, I can't wait to involve Haruna-sama. Though it would be better if the plan involved marrying her." Nakagawa said dreamily. "She might as well be the Empress of Japan."

"It'll be soon enough. You'll meet your idol. I hear she's even more beautiful and charming in person."

A few silent moments passed as both men went through lists in their head. What was the next thing to worry about, the next item on their agenda?

"What should we do about Narayama? I mean, I don't think he'll tell, after both the art room incident and the hush money. But just in case-" Nakagawa began.

"Oh, as if Narayama would have cared if it were any other teacher in the school. He's just bitter you fucked his wife."

"Be quiet! _My_ wife could get home from the store any minute!"

"You still have one? She didn't divorce you after Emiko?" Shibata jabbed.

"She doesn't know about her, and she doesn't need to know."

"What about Suzuka? And Haruko?"

"… No, and no. Anyway, let's get back on topic. I've written down the plan." He handed the drama teacher twenty-five pages of paper.

Surprised at its content, Shibata read aloud. "… And then Konata said 'Let's cosplay Haruhi again and dance to'-"

"Err, sorry, that's my Lucky Star fanfiction. _Here's_ the plan." He handed his 'friend' a much smaller packet of paper.

Shibata studied the paper. "This is getting _really_ illegal. Like, we have to be extra careful, now that the little blue-haired runt is onto us. We could go to jail. Are you absolutely sure we should-"

"This is what the guys in the old yard said to do." The handsome man poured the red wine into the glasses, careful not to use too much or his wife would be suspicious. "I admit I was surprised too, but they've been doing shit like this for years. I trust them. Remember Yokohama?"

"What about Yokohama?"

"Exactly."

There was dead silence for a moment as Shibata stared at his glass, then the normally quiet teacher gulped.

"Okay. I better not regret letting you take over the plan. I just hope that the students don't catch on. And especially not _him_."

"To us?" The English teacher raised his glass.

"To us," His partner in crime agreed, clanking the glasses together and downing his. "We're gonna be rich."


	35. Chapter 35

**The semester's over (finally), so now I'm back on track! For the rest of December, expect for me to update this every 1-2 days.**

 **Responses to reviews :**

 **Teehee: Yes, I read the scans of Graduation Album time that are floating around tumblr, so I know about KarasumaxIrina's child. Interesting you bring that up, I'm generally a very canon-compliant person (hence why KarasumaxIrina is in my fics to begin with although I don't really ship them), but I chose to have her not exist in this fic to make things simpler. There's really only room for one 3-E baby in this story, and that vacancy was filled quickly.**

 **Guest (Dec 14th): You are correct, I have edited the previous chapter.**

 **Guest (Dec 11th) & Pappler : Ask and ye shall receive! (In a few chapters from now.)**

* * *

Nagisa and Akari spent the rest of winter break cooped up inside with their new family, surrounded by loved ones. By the time school started, they had fallen into a happy routine that it was a shame to break.

Upon waking up first thing in the morning, Nagisa took a look at his phone. Monday, January 8th. It was the day he went back to school, and the day that Nakagawa and Shibata planned on doing whatever the hell it was that they said they'd do. Nagisa laid back down, but shot right back up with the realization that his daughter hadn't woken him up crying in the past four hours. Dashing into her room, he found her sleeping soundly in her fuzzy pink pajamas. Leaning down to kiss her forehead, he walked into the kitchen to start the coffee maker.

Now that it was 6:30, Akari and Kaede joined him. Nagisa scrolled through the news on his phone with Kaede in the other arm. Akari was frying up eggs.

"Huh. The police shut down a big party downtown last night." Nagisa muttered.

"Were any of your students there?" Akari took the rice out of the rice cooker.

"I don't know for sure. I'm guessing it's a bunch of high-school aged kids. The kid throwing the party apparently was."

"Hmm." She brought two plates with eggs, rice, and bowls of miso soup to the table. "I hope none of them are your students."

Nagisa read the article while the baby played with his hair. _On January 7th, 11:39 pm, a noise complaint was called to the police by a neighbor, and police visited the house. Seventy-five teenagers, most of them high school students, were estimated to be in the building. Seven were arrested. The incident is under investigation._

After eating, Nagisa got his coat on and gathered everything he needed for school. Akari rocked the baby as she started to cry. Nagisa gave her a kiss. "Daddy's going to miss you all day." When he headed out the door, she burst into fresh tears again.

Nagisa picked her up and gave her one more kiss. "My little angel."

"I think she senses Daddy is going to be gone all day." Akari chuckled and moved to the exercise ball to gently bounce her. Nagisa said sayonara, wishing he could bring them along today, and walked into the freezing cold weather.

* * *

"Hello, class!" He beamed at his students, who were still rubbing their eyes from sleep.

Kasegawa blinked, then fell back asleep on her desk. Kazama yawned. But all but Banno were present.

"I want a seven-hundred word composition on what you did over the break. In English please." Nagisa smiled sadistically.

While the class was grueling over their assignment, Nagisa sat at his desk, sneaking glances at the pictures Akari sent him of their daughter. He thought to visit Banno after school, then a realization came to him: there was a reason he wasn't at school eight hours after a party was shut down.

He studied the expressions of his students. All but one of them were obviously tired and didn't want to be there, well at least more than usual.

"So the fuzz shut down your party?" Toshima asked is seatmate aloud, the odd one out being totally oblivious.

"Shaddup!" Kasegawa threw her pencil at him. The rest of the class hurled profanities at him.

Nagisa shot up from his desk. "CLASS!"

The students froze and looked terrified.

"… Class." He rubbed his temples in frustration. "Please. I don't even think I have to ask where Banno is-"

"I think you can guess." Aida's voice was droll.

"… Okay. First thing's first: You were all at that party?" Nagisa ran his fingers through his hair.

"All except the square here." Kagato roughly patted Toshima's back.

"… Well then. Second thing: Is Banno in the town jail?"

"Yep! Now that he's eighteen, they can keep him there for who-knows-how-long. And his parents are in Australia, so he's staying in that jail cell." Azuki sharpened his pencil, brushing off the flakes of wood.

"I'll just have to work around that. Get on your coats, class, we're taking a field trip."

His students perked right up and did exactly as was requested.

"Does this mean we don't have to do the composition?" Tsukuda asked.

Nagisa chuckled. "Yes, just turn it in tomorrow." Ignoring the choir of groans, the bluenette put his coat on and lead the way out of the building.

* * *

It was still bitterly cold outdoors, and the wind blew gusts of snow into their faces. Nagisa let out a shiver of proportions that should not be possible for someone as tiny as he. Only four blocks till the train station, he kept telling himself.

"Speaking of field trips," Toshima's squeaky voice poked into Nagisa's thoughts. Nagisa turned to acknowledge him. "I take it we aren't getting one?"

"Unfortunately, no." Nagisa placed his palm on his cheek. He'd asked Principal Akino about it, he'd just said that they lost the privilege to that when they got placed into this class. It seemed like any attempt to compromise would have been fruitless and Nagisa wasn't in the mood to play headgames with him anyway, so he dropped the subject.

The class all boarded the train. Nagisa took a seat next to his student.

Toshima, having found nothing interesting in that conversation, started pulling a thread from the armpit of his jacket and making meaningless small talk. "So, didn't you become a father over the holiday break?"

Nagisa's eyes brightened up and he pulled out his phone. "Yes, I've got 3,421 pictures of my daughter, come take a look…"

By the time they made it to the town jail/police department, his students were cringing.

"… And here's little Kaede's perfect little feet. And here's little Kaede after finally falling asleep when I stayed up with her for fourteen hours straight because she had colic. And here's-"

"We get it, she's your little bundle of joy." Kagato yawned.

"We've arrived at our destination, _Daddy_." Shisaki stomped the snow off his shoes.

The building was small, gray, and rather bleak looking. Well, that was to be expected of a jail. Nagisa needed help from Izumoto to open the big heavy door.

Inside was equally bleak, the walls were an ugly gray and there wasn't even a plant to liven up the place. But luck was on Nagisa's side today, as the officer behind the desk was an old friend.

"Nagisa!?" The hat fell off of Kimura's head.

"Kimura? I didn't expect to see you here." Nagisa bowed.

"I didn't expect to be here. But the chief decided to station me here today, since I messed up with the flare gun yesterday."

"That's unfortunate. I hope that fire in the tavern downtown wasn't the result of that-"

"No." He denied, blushing. "That was some idiot we have yet to catch."

"Alright." Nagisa filed that thought away for later. "I'd like to see one Hayata Banno."

"I'm really not allowed to do this, but," The former E Class athlete looked around, paranoid. "I'll make an exception for you. It's you, I'm sure you have a good reason."

"He's my student."

"Okay then. Stay as long as you need, no one else will be in here until 8 p.m., unless someone new gets arrested." The police officer stood up and lead his old classmate towards the back. 3-5 followed suit.

Banno was sitting behind bars, leaning against the cold wall. He seemed to be shivering (It was very cold in the cell, Nagisa had to admit). He didn't seem to notice that his schoolmates and teacher were in front of him.

"Okay. I'll be up front if you need anything." Kimura walked away, leaving Nagisa with all of his students.

"Banno?" Nagisa called out.

He got no response but the _clang_ of an icicle falling off the roof and landing on the ground right near the window.

"Banno, dude?" Azuki tried speaking to him next.

No answer.

"Banno!" Shisaki yelled. It at least got his friend's attention.

"Hey guys. What's the time?" The eighteen year old stretched. It was apparent that he hadn't slept all night.

"9 a.m."

"Are you here to bail me out? Because they're releasing me at 8 p.m."

"I can't afford to bail you out. Instead, I've brought the classroom here." Nagisa motioned his students to sit down. "Now tell me, in English, about your break."

"I-I threw a party." Banno stammered out in terrible English.

"He threw multiple parties." Several of his classmates added.

"Hey!"

"And what happened after that?" The short teacher spoke up over the bickering of his students.

"We got the cops called on us." Banno slouched over, breaking into Japanese. "And I got arrested, since it was at my house."

"And we all ran the hell home." Aida shrugged.

"See, this is why I brought the whole class instead of speaking to you personally. This is a classroom problem." Nagisa pulled out the ruler he stuffed in his bag before leaving. "When you throw parties, bad things happen. Like getting arrested."

"Or making messes in the house." Banno sat down on the stone floor. "Or not studying. Or my siblings hating me because they can get to sleep at 2 a.m."

"How old are they?" Nagisa was legitimately curious.

"14, 10, and 7."

"Yeah, they need the sleep." Nagisa recalled his days in elementary and middle school.

"But I want to see my friends, before they grow up and leave me, like my parents did." His lowest achieving student curled up into a fetal position.

Goosebumps ran up Nagisa's spine. He didn't want to have to be his students' therapist (he was not qualified to do that), but they needed his help. "Don't look at it like that. You're all growing up together, and you can still see each other. It just can't be in a destructive way. You can have fun without drugs and alcohol."

Nagisa listened to the sound of Banno breathing deeply and shivering. Nagisa passed an extra scarf he kept in his bag to the student. He was not dressed for the weather. "You know what I mean?"

Banno accepted it. "Arigatou. And I know what you mean, it's just..."

The student teacher turned to the rest of his class. "That goes for all of you. You stayed out so late last night you're having trouble staying awake in class today. What if I assigned a big pop quiz?"

"We'd be screwed." Toshima answered, though the question didn't really apply to him.

"Exactly." Nagisa took the ruler and held it by both ends. "Think of this as the full extent of your life." He walked towards one end of the room so the class could see him completely. He then held his hands over three-fourths of it. "This is the amount you've lived so far. Things will get better than not doing well in high school and parents ignoring us. You just need to put forth the effort to improve your future."

Now that he had the whole class's attention, Nagisa went back to teacher mode. "I hope you all brought your textbooks, because Math class is about to begin…"

* * *

Because Nagisa was not in the schoolhouse for most of that day, he did not come across his two enemies. But true to the discussion they had before the break, they were putting forth their intentions for their crimes. The pair met in the shed behind the school, where the P.E. equipment was stored. No one visited there during such a freezing day, and everyone would be retrieving supplies from the storage room on the first day of the new term, so it was the ideal place to meet.

"You've ordered the-" Shibata was speaking normally, but dropped his voice to a whisper. "B-o-m-b-s. Right?"

"Mhh." His associate nodded. "I thought Monday, February 19th would be a good day for that little incident. I don't want to ruin Valentine's day. I'm hooking up with this chick named Cinnamon."

"Of course you are." The drama teacher huffed. "Since you've got that taken care of, I'll arrange for us to see Haruna-sama."

"Aww." Disappointment dripped from every syllable of Nakagawa's. "We could change tasks-"

"Shut up, you fanboy. You're the one who wanted to get to know my old friends."

"Admittedly, yes." The tall man sighed.

Both teachers spent the next few moments rubbing their hands together and breathing on them. They wanted to wrap this meeting up quickly and return to the building before anyone noticed their absence.

"Do you have the you-know-whats in a safe place?"

"Safe as could be." He promised.

* * *

The results of last trimester's finals were on Nagisa's desk Wednesday morning, bound in a yellow envelope. Overjoyed, he wrote them out on the board.

Shigeki Aida, 50th place. Yoshio Azuki, 68th place. Hiro Izumoto, 72nd place. Ichiro Kagato, 73th place. Mamoru Kazama, 60th place. Kotori Kasegawa, 66th place. Kimiya Shisaki, 44th place. Konosuke Takemura, 70th place. Yukito Tsukuda, 48th place. Kentaro Toshima, 31st place. Moritaka Hamada, 69th place. Hayata Banno, 74th place.

The kids hooray'd and high-fived. Nagisa rang the cowbell on his desk, the one that was a gag gift from Karma.

"Now that you've shown significant improvement, it's time to set a goal." The teenagers sat down, knowing that their sensei was going to say something important. "Let's see if we can all get into the top fifty during midterms."

"WHAT!?" The students of 3-5 erupted.

"Isn't this the same stupid challenge the principal gave us months ago?" One shouted. The rest of the class nodded in agreement.

Nagisa waved his hand. "Settle down kids."

"We're _not_ kids!"

The blue-haired teacher sighed. "Okay then, you're not kids. But just settle down." They did as they were told, knowing not to cross Shiota-sensei. "I wouldn't give you this goal if I didn't think you could achieve it. Look at how much you've improved in the past nine months."

"We all made it into the top 75… Even me." Banno tapped his fingers on his desk. It was the first time he spoke up in class after the arrest.

"That is correct." If Nagisa were Koro-sensei, his face would have a bright red circle. "If you've been moving up that much all year, why can't you continue the trend?"

Silence fell over the classroom, as if they were contemplating something.

Nagisa turned around and wrote _30 days 'til midterms_ on the board. "We've only got a month, so it's crunch time from now on. And your college entrance exams are about the same time, correct?" He looked around and was met with a series of nods.

"Mandatory after school study sessions are once again in effect. Takemura, Hamada, I hope you don't have plans for after school today."

* * *

Nagisa and Akari were on the floor of the living room, surrounded by guests. Nagisa's mother was sitting in the rocking chair, her eyes on her grandchild. Nagisa's father leaned against the wall. And the guest of honor was at the door, wiping his boots on the welcome mat.

"Kawaguchi." Nagisa picked the baby up off the ground and stood. His friend slowly walked towards them.

"Can I hold her?" He sounded unsure of himself.

Her father nodded and smiled. "Yes. You can." The mother nodded in affirmation.

The seventy-two year old man held the baby with both arms, resting her head on his shoulder. She reached up and grabbed his gray and white beard.

He cast a shy glance at Nagisa's parents, trying to conceal his jealousy. "I wish I could have had this." He sighed wistfully, then blinked away tears. The Friday evening light was orange in the window and illuminated the scene. It was a perfect addition to the day.


	36. Chapter 36

**This is one of those chapters I'm not sure if I like. Also I'm pretty sure I caught strep throat. Just in time for the holidays.  
**

 **Responses to reviews:**

 **Tsukiko K: Haha. Yeah, I loved writing that part. I think if Nagisa didn't make his students cringe at least a little bit, he wouldn't be the spiritual successor to Koro-sensei. Never fear, it was a one-time joke and won't become a running gag.  
**

 **G: Meh. I don't hate the ship (I only downright dislike two ships I've seen floating around the AssClass fandom and only one of them is really classifiable as 'canon'), I just didn't get the feeling the Karasuma genuinely returned her affection. It felt to me like he was taking pity on her whenever they had any significant interactions. But if other people like it, that's great. I refuse to diss other people's ships.  
**

* * *

The days had begun to fly by; it was already mid-January. In the front office, the secretary had begun a countdown to graduation. Nagisa ignored it; he didn't want to think that his first year teaching was almost over. When he walked in the building, he liked to focus on who was in the room with him. And so far this term, he hadn't seen neither Shibata not Nakagawa. While it was pleasing to not have to deal with their condescending snarkiness and fearful looks, it deeply concerned Nagisa that he didn't know what they were doing now.

 _Who knows what they're up to_ , Nagisa thought with indignation as he entered the classroom one such Monday morning. Instead of doing the standard morning greeting, the students threw crumpled up paper at him. He ignored it and took his scarf off. "I hope you're all prepared for the test today-"

"Yeah, this is how we study!" Azuki yelled.

Nagisa picked up all the paper later when the test was distributed. It was indeed homework and scratch paper full of notes and equations. Nagisa sorted them out and handed them to each student individually with notes about taking care of study materials in case they are needed later.

Kagato's hearing for the trespassing event came and went, and Nagisa heard of it. "I have to do 24 hours of community service before graduation." He whined and sat down in his desk.

"You got off easy compared to what they did to my cousin for the same thing." Hamada yawned.

"Oh, it must be nice to have a politically influential daddy." Shisaki frowned.

"Hell, it must be nice to _have_ a daddy." Kasegawa snapped he pencil in half. Kazama handed her another one.

"I see. What are you going to do?" Nagisa looked up from stapling packets of work, addressing his 'most difficult student'. He certainty felt the pain of the other three.

"I dunno. Whatever they force me to do, I'll probably fight it."

"Maybe you could work at the Wakaba Park daycare." Nagisa suggested mischievously, remembering the days he spent there with his classmates to atone for their misdeeds.

"Fuck no." He put his feet up on the desk. Nagisa glared at him until he put them back on the floor. The delinquent continued to try the tough guy act. "I know you're content to do bullshit work, but I-"

"Then what's this all important, non-bullshit work you plan on doing?" Nagisa titled his head. "Because I haven't heard a word about it. Remember, career counseling is coming up."

The whole class went quiet. Nagisa broke the silence by smiling sweetly. "You guys look like you're getting hunted down by a vicious killer." He giggled.

The class joined in, albeit uncomfortably. Oh, if only they knew…

* * *

Predictably, it was later that day that Kaede began to sniffle and sneeze, then Akari followed, then the following morning Nagisa woke up with an awful cold.

"Class," His hoarse voice meekly rose above the class. "Put down your 'weapons'. We're about to start reviewing for the midterm. I told you no assassination attempts if it interferes with your academics." He turned around to write on the board. _January 18th. 22 days 'til midterms._

Nagisa walked through the halls of the school after talking to Tsukuda when class let out (He was still having trouble in science). Contemplating where was the best place to buy ingredients for miso soup, he bumped into someone had hadn't seen in what felt like an eternity.

"Principal Akino." Nagisa coughed as he bowed, resenting his weak immune system.

"Hello there, Shiota-san." The principal's smile was big and fraudulent. "Actually, I was looking for you. You know what's coming up?"

"A lot of things." Nagisa rummaged through his pockets for a pack of tissues.

"The kids are voting on teacher of the year." His voice was almost mocking. "What have you done to ensure that your students are voting for you?"

The question caught Nagisa off guard; he hadn't paid much attention to the whole thing. His only hope regarding this was that neither of his suspects got the award. That would make it really hard to pin this whole 'stealing money from the school and who knows what else' thing on them. Honestly, he didn't even care if anyone voted for him.

"Um. Well. I like to think my teaching methods speak for themselves." Nagisa tried to laugh.

"Ahh, to be young again." The man stared out the window.

That really did lead to the question: How old was the principal? Where was he from? He seemed borderline otherworldly. He did remind Nagisa of Principal Asano, but that was more his attitude and aura than his appearance. Nagisa felt less threatened by him than he ever did by Asano, that was for sure. But it was still an uncomfortable feeling, like a puppet master trying to pull your strings.

But threatening or not, Nagisa didn't feel like dealing with this today. He wanted to go home, take some cold medicine, and take a nap. So before the principal could say another word, Nagisa gave a second bow and began to leave.

"Have a nice day, principal!" He smiled.

"Wait." His boss's deep voice echoed throughout the empty hall.

Nagisa obeyed and stood still. Principal Akino walked menacingly towards him and handed him a yellow envelope. Nagisa looked for writing or a note, or something to indicate what it was for.

"Here. For that _other_ thing that's coming up."

* * *

If there was one thing that dominated Nagisa's work life this whole month, it was preparing his students for the midterms. The good news was that everyone seemed to be focusing and putting in an effort. When they weren't plotting for his demise, that is.

Aida tackled him to the ground and tried to strangle his blue-haired sensei. Nagisa was able to get him off by applying just the right amount of pressure to his jugular. He coughed once, and Nagisa was able to push him to the ground.

Nagisa gestured to the equation he wrote on the chalkboard. "How do we solve this?"

"I know! Use that formula you've been going on and on about all semester-"

"This equation is linear, you can't use the quadratic formula."

For that particular bit of tutoring, Nagisa was rewarded with another attack, this time aiming for his head.

Azuki threw thumbtacks at Nagisa (from where did he even get those, Nagisa wondered), while explaining the process of mitosis.

"Explain the part about spindle fibers again a bit louder, I can't hear you over the torrent of thumbtacks on the wall." Nagisa held up a fragment of cardboard box that had stayed in the room since Kasegawa threw it at him in September, to shield himself.

It was so stressful, in fact, that Nagisa almost forgot about the school festival until a flyer that the wind blew in his face reminded him.

 _Paradise High School's Winter Festival!_

 _January 25th-27th_

 _Come one, come all!_

The flyer was decorated with Perry, the Paradise High Porcupine (the school's mascot). He had many speech bubbles erupting from him. _Food! Games! Fun!_

Sigh. Nagisa walked slowly to the train station. No one really came to the festival except for students, siblings, and maybe the occasional doting parent. At least this was what Nagisa was told by his pupils. And Kawaguchi. And Narayama. And the people at the front office. And- well, just about everybody who's been here for more than a year. This wasn't like Kunugigaoka at all, where student festivals were a spectacle. They weren't looking to impress anyone.

"So why bother?", as Takemura had put it when the topic of discussion came up during their tutoring session a few days prior.

Nagisa got to his flat, and immediately hugged his fiancée and daughter. _Sometimes it's not about impressing people, instead it's about doing the best you can._

* * *

On a cold Sunday night, Nagisa sat cross-legged on the floor with the budget sheets spread out in front of him, holding Kaede in his arms and gently rocking her. There was one sheet for ideas about props, backgrounds, costumes, music, and sound effects. He figured he would get the ball rolling. Kaede clung to her stuffed octopus, occasionally cooing at Nagisa.

Nagisa looked at the envelope full of cash that the principal gave to him. According to a note inside, it was indeed the budget for the festival. It was significantly less than the other classes got- only about 65,000 yen. According to whispered rumors, Class 3-1 got 100,000 yen. And it was hand delivered to him, just to rub it in. Was this a part of the hazing ritual, some sort of intimidation tactic?

There were about eight students to costume, assuming four would set up and run the exhibit. It would probably take about 20,000 yen for props, maybe they could skimp on those since it was in the dark. But they probably shouldn't. That would leave 45,000 for costumes, split eight ways… How could they afford this!? He had no money of his own to contribute, and there was no time for another fundraiser.

Beginning to sweat in frustration and anger, Nagisa felt himself figuratively being taken back in time, again. He thought of a mountain, of himself surrounded by his friends at the age of fifteen. And of a bright yellow octopus-like creature's words. _Being on this mountain isn't a disadvantage,_ it's _our greatest asset._

Nagisa took a breath. _If E Class could overcome our setbacks eight years ago, so can 3-5._

Nagisa's heart felt light again, though it was partially also because of his newborn daughter patting his back when he hugged her. Nagisa stayed up until two in the morning coming up with four different ideas for the atmosphere of the room. He was leaning towards the graveyard set up, but the haunted house and the scary forest and the abandoned asylum were also options. He had drawn out costume designs for a werewolf, a vampire, a ghost, an oni, an alien, a kuchi-sake-onna, and a black cat. All he had left to do was to figure out one more costume idea and show all this to his class.

Yawning, he finally was able to get the baby to go to sleep and himself crawled in next to Akari. Except, he could not get to sleep. The question of what exactly what that last costume would be plagued him. And yet, his mind was too exhausted to come up with anything. He tossed and turned for hours, until an epiphany came unbidden.

Inside Nagisa and Akari's closet, a large yellow dress was draped over some casual clothes. Nagisa saw it through a crack in the sliding door. Of course, Nagisa recognized this dress. Akari wore it when she had to appear as Haruna Mase in public. And it looked great on her, of course. But illuminated by the light from the television at four in the morning, it looked like another beloved person of Nagisa's.

 _That's it_ , Nagisa rolled over with yet another yawn. _The eighth person will be Koro-sensei. We can just say he's 'that scary guy who destroyed the moon'. That's what they think they know...  
_

His thoughts having finally been quelled, the bluenette finally drifted off into sleep until he woke up to take care of Kaede again.

* * *

These days, Nagisa was perpetually haunted by sleepless nights, long work days, and caffeine binges. Between preparing students for midterms (with that new goal he suggested, perhaps not his brightest moment), getting everything ready for the festival, and raising a child for the first time, Nagisa could confidently say he was busier than he'd ever been in his adult life. But one more thing was added to his plate. When Nagisa checked his email the next morning, his heart almost stopped.

 **To: Nagisa Shiota**

 **From: Gakuho Asano**

 **Subject: Hello there…**


	37. Chapter 37

**So the servers had their monthly meltdown last night, which meant that the listing in the archive for Great Teacher Nagisa read that the story has significantly fewer chapters, words, reviews, and all that than it does and that it last updated on December 19th. It read like this for a few hours (at least for me). If you saw that, please rest assured that I did not delete a chapter or remove peoples' reviews or anything like that. I still see this happening to one other recently updated story, so I'm not even sure if this chapter will post, but here goes.**

 **Also merry Christmas Eve/Christmas, depending on your timezone.**

* * *

"Why do _I_ have to be the kuchi-sake-onna?"

"Because Kagato, you said 'not it' last. Now shut up while we put your makeup on." Toshima smiled sadistically as he covered his classmate's mouth in cheap lipstick.

"But she's ugly! I wanted to be the werewo-hmhmh-" His speech was muffled.

"Don't accidentally eat the lipstick. That's a waste and we're broke." Nagisa chided him with a shake of the finger, then turned back to the Styrofoam gravestone he was decorating.

Kagato continued to sit there and pout as his classmates giggled at his embarrassment.

Kasegawa pulled her cape tighter. "I think my vampire teeth are falling out."

"Just put them back in. They're 100 yen store crap." Nagisa finished writing on the gravestone. _Mrs. Ima Goner_ , in red katakana that even dripped like blood.

Izumoto started the fog machine that Akari borrowed from the set of her morning drama last season. It filled the room with white mist that Nagisa had to stand to look over. "Who's gonna be the octopus?" Izumoto asked.

Nagisa looked around his classroom. Everyone had turned down the role of Koro-sensei. Perhaps his beloved mentor wasn't in enough horror movies for them to have an interest in playing that part. Nagisa patted down his hair, which the humidity was making rather frizzy. "Are you all sure none of you want to be-"

"Hey teach," Azuki sat up from the pumpkin he was carving. "Why don't you be the alien octopus?"

"Huh?" Nagisa blinked. "And I'm Shiota-sensei."

"Yeah, you're the one who keeps pushing this idea on us." Banno added.

"You'd make a good super villain." Takemura didn't look from the yarn he was weaving into a spider web.

"But would he really?" Shisaki deadpanned. "He's a 160 centimeter blue-haired girly fifteen year old." His comment was ignored by the rest of the class.

It didn't occur to Nagisa before, but now that his students brought it up, it seemed like a perfect fit. But there was one problem that created. "But I'm managing the exhibit-"

"Leave it to me." Azuki swept the dust into the corner.

Nagisa was quite surprised that he of all people would volunteer to do that. "Are you sure you can?"

"I'm a little insulted that you're underestimating me like that, Shiota-sensei." Azuki replied in mock horror. "I want an opportunity to be the mastermind behind an evil operation anyway."

Nagisa knew it was good to show trust to his student. "Okay. I'm here if you need anything." Nagisa slipped on the yellow tentacle-like sleeves he and Akari had sewn out of cheap fabric.

Nagisa did his best to ignore his email all day. He was still in denial about what he received this morning. But anxiety eventually got the best of him, and at lunchtime he looked at it.

 **To: Nagisa Shiota**

 **From: Gakuho Asano**

 **Subject: Hello there…**

 **Hello Shiota-san,**

 **I'm sure you remember me from all those years ago. I would like to meet up whenever you are free, just a chat between fellow educators. And, I've got something that might be of interest to you.**

 **Please email back soon,**

 **Mr. Gakuho Asano**

Every hair on Nagisa's neck stood on end when he re-read that. What could the former principal Asano, the one who put them through the hell known as the E Class system, possibly want?

Nagisa caved to curiosity and responded.

 **To: Gakuho Asano**

 **From: Nagisa Shiota**

 **Subject: Re: Hello there…**

 **Mr. Asano,**

 **How does Saturday, February 3rd at the park near the train station sound?**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Nagisa Shiota**

And send.

* * *

Nagisa scrunched over, hidden underneath his desk. The Koro-sensei costume was itchy. Since he couldn't see a thing due to the dim lighting and the fog, he was relying on sound to know when to scare.

Takemura's werewolf howl, check. Footsteps inbound, check. Voices, check. And now…

"Why did we even waste your money coming in here anyway? This is lame, but I guess we should have expected that from 3-5."

Nagisa flushed in the dark. He slowly got up. "Nurufufufufu…"

The teenaged couple froze in their tracks. "What the hell is that!?"

"I think I've seen him before."

"Nurufufufu…" He continued to imitate his mentor's signature laugh. The students just became even more disturbed. Channeling all of his bloodlust, he wove around his 'tentacles', which is what sent the pair over the edge. They bolted along the path in terror, screaming again when they ran into the 'spider web' on the other side of the room.

Nagisa, pleased with this outcome, went back to his designated spot under the desk and waited in anticipation for his next victim.

The festival was over in the blink of an eye. As the next week passed, statistics came out about each class's accomplishments. Of the thirteen classes in the high school, 3-5 ranked dead in the middle at seventh.

"That's much better than we usually do. We're always dead last because people generally don't bother to patronize us." Kazama high-fived his friends.

"Just like our exams. Progress is incremental. We should be proud of ourselves. Especially our manager." He turned his gaze toward Azuki, who hid and blushed.

"I just… Stop staring at me!"

* * *

Nagisa was in for a surprise that day. He looked at the board. _Friday, February 2nd. Seven days 'til midterms._ He quickly added _Nine days 'til college entrance exams_ , as his students sprung it upon him that all twelve of them had their exams on that day. And apropos of that, it was time for a life lesson.

"Look, class," Nagisa sat atop his desk, indicating that he was serious. "I know it's very stressful that your college entrance exams are just two days after midterms, but think about it this way: the midterms will prepare you for the entrance exams."

Radio silence. Then Takemura spoke, which was becoming increasingly common. "I don't know if I'll make it through that weekend."

Nagisa gave him a bright warm smile. "Of course you will. I'm sure you thought that way about your other exam periods, but here you are now."

"But two huge ones in a row, Shiota-sensei…"

"Here's a deep dark secret they don't want you to know," Nagisa juggled the chalk in an attempt to look cool. "It's not the end of the world if you don't get into your first choice school."

Another wave of nostalgia overwhelmed him. "I went to middle school with a guy," A certain cheesy haircut and glasses flashed in his memory. "He didn't get into his first choice for high school and he was heartbroken. But now he's the emergency room doctor in one of the most important hospitals in the area. And he's one of the most dependable people I've ever met."

"Is this at the Takebayashi General Hospital?" Kazama was beginning to connect the dots.

"I won't say yes, and I won't say no." Nagisa smirked. "But, I will tell you that where you go to school will not determine the path you follow for the rest of your life. So while you should put your best foot forward, don't lose any sleep over it."

There was a knock at the door. "Shiota-sensei?" Nagisa knew that voice better than anyone else's on earth. He rushed to the door.

"Akari!" He squealed.

Akari, in her full disguise (minus the hair dye), stood in the doorway with baby Kaede in her arms, wrapped in many layers of scarves and winter clothes. They were both red in the face from the cold. "You forgot your lunch," she handed him a little box covered in cloth. "So I decided to come bring it to you."

Nagisa hadn't even noticed. "Wow Akari. I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to." She giggled. The baby copied her mother, having woken up and seen that her father was there.

Nagisa scooped Kaede up out of his fiancée's arms and held her tightly. He caught a glimpse of the window. "It's snowing out. Stay with us for a while." He shut the door behind them.

"Can we?" Akari didn't expect that response.

"Of course." Nagisa was full of joy, receiving a visit from two of his most favorite people.

Nagisa was now at the front of the room, cradling his daughter in one arm and using the other to write the word 'enzyme' on the board. He only wrote the first few letters before getting a response.

"Ew!" Kasegawa pulled back in horror. "What's _that_?"

Nagisa would have been offended if he didn't know her better. "This is Kaede Shiota, my precious little-"

"Please don't subject us to this again." Tsukuda bowed as much as he could while sitting in his desk. "We get it, she's your little freakin' angel or whatever." He rolled his eyes and was grateful that his teacher couldn't see that when he sat like this. "My dad was never this enamored with me."

"I'm quite sorry to hear that." He cringed between learning that and Kaede pulling on a fistful of his hair. Good thing he didn't have pigtails anymore. "And I won't gush if you sit up straight, okay?"

"Fine."

With a happy face, Nagisa went back to teaching the class about why lactose intolerant people cannot digest milk.

Rumors were whispered about Shiota-sensei's fiancée all day.

"I've seen her somewhere before." Shisaki studied her features. "Like, before she came to the art sale. She's familiar."

"She looks like a movie star. How'd he snag such a hot-" Aida was cut off by Nagisa glaring at him.

"I guess personality really does count for a lot or he's secretly rich. But yeah, I think I saw her on tv or something." Azuki contributed to the conversation, absentmindedly copying down whatever their teacher was writing on the board.

"No, you idiot. She's just a local. No way he'd date someone that far out of his league." Shisaki replied.

"I think she looks like Haruna Mase." It just occurred to Hamada.

"Don't be stupid, she's not Haruna-sama."

* * *

When Nagisa's after school tutoring session concluded, he left with Akari and Kaede.

"What do you want for dinner, Akari?" Nagisa handed the squirming baby to Akari when he couldn't quell her. She was probably tired and hungry.

"Pizza." She thought hard about that. Then _it_ happened.

"Hello there!" Nakagawa walked towards them in greeting. The couple threw frantic glances at each other. Akari's disguise should fool him, right? "I don't think we've been acquainted. I'm Shintaro Nakagawa, I teach English here." He bowed.

Akari bit back a response. "I'm Nagisa's fiancée." She decided not to give a name, even a fake one. "This is our daughter, Kaede."

"How precious!" Nakagawa fought back his anger, but Nagisa could sense it. "I can see whose hair she inherited."

Nagisa and Akari were becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Nakagawa got up close to Kaede and tried to look more at her. Just as Nagisa was about to intervene, the baby made an angry face and turned towards her mother.

"Sorry, she's not used to people." Nagisa laughed with false pretenses.

"I get that." Nakagawa waved. "I sure wish I had one."

"One what?"

"A… Nevermind." He realized he almost shared that detail about his personal life with the target of his paranoia. Dammit. He began to leave. "I'm in a hurry, so I'll see you around!"

Yes, Nakagawa did have a place he was heading towards. His home, where he and his associate would execute Operation Alpha.

"I can't believe it." Nakagawa ranted now that he was in the safety of his own home. "He has a _baby_." Jealousy blazed through him like fire. "There are two things in this world I want but don't have. One of them is a baby, the other is Haruna Mase."

"Calm down, maybe you can get something out of Haruna-sama after we're done here." Shibata sat on the floor scrolling through Haruna Mase's accounts on every social media platform she had.

"But he has the other thing."

Shibata got to work sending out some emails and generally ignoring Nakagawa.

"Well, it's a good thing no one has Haruna-sama. That would just be… _enraging_."

* * *

Nagisa was at the fated meeting place he agreed upon with Asano. Sitting on the park bench, he wiped the snow off and shuddered. They were supposed to meet at noon, it was already 12:10. Just as Nagisa began to contemplate sending another email, an all-too-familiar voice shot through his eardrums like lightning.

"Ahh, Shiota-san." The principal appeared next to him.

"He-Hello, Princi- I mean, Mr. Asano." Nagisa bowed with not quite the same depth as he did to this man many years ago.

"It's quite nice to see you here. Now, let's go for a walk, shall we?"

Nagisa nodded in agreement, having no better ideas. He took the time as they walked through the park to observe the former principal's appearance. He had gone completely gray, now there was no telling how old he was. Bags were visible under his eyes. Yet by some divine mercy, he had relatively few wrinkles. And he wasn't talking either. Nagisa had enough of feeling uncomfortable for the weekend and decided to start the conversation.

"So what have you been up to since Kunugigaoka?"

"You go first." Asano rubbed his hands together to warm them.

"Uh… It's my first year student teaching. I have a fiancée and a five week old."

"It sounds like you've got yourself together."

"I'm flattered you think that." Nagisa looked away.

"Are you putting what you learned from that year to good use?"

"You bet."

The air was filled with silence as they stopped at the oak tree.

Thirty seconds, a minute… Nagisa didn't know how long they stood like this, but he didn't like it one bit.

"How's your son?" He'd talk about that, right?

"Ran off to a whole different country." Asano said with a bit of humor. "He calls about once a month to keep me updated. Something about starting a new life in the Silicon Valley." He gave a little bit of a shrug.

They stood for a few more seconds before Asano cleared his throat. "It's quite cold out. How about we get some lunch?" He pointed to the burger place at the edge of the park.

"I'm broke."

"Then I'll buy."

"No, it's really fine-" Nagisa put his hands up in surrender.

"No, I insist."

Realizing that this guy wasn't going to take no for an answer, he conceded.

They both sat on barstools at the counter, waiting on their order.

Asano finally broke the tension by pulling out his phone. He scrolled through pictures to show Nagisa.

A fancy looking building against the Tokyo skyline. Bathrooms with carpeted floors and hallways that looked like they came out of Hogwarts. It all looked like a postcard, the kind of place you'd brag about being near.

"Mr. Asano… This is all very nice, but what is it?" Nagisa took a bite of his burger.

Asano showed him one more picture, a logo that said _Maple Woods Junior High_ in big brown kanji. No furigana. The Kunudon mascot was there, but he seemed to have gotten a makeover.

"See, my whole life I've never wanted anything other than to be an educator, Shiota-san." Asano nibbled on a fry. "So when the media shut down Kunugigaoka because of that whole E Class thing, I set out to continue doing what I was meant to do."

"So you founded another school?"

"That is correct. I funded everything, and went over every painstaking detail. The curriculum is already mapped out. It should be ready to open in a few years. It's only missing one thing: staff." Asano put his cup down and looked expectantly at Nagisa.

"… You're asking me to be a teacher at your school." Nagisa knew Asano was would probably sneak his way back into the education field, but asking for his help?

"I've heard nothing but good things about you."

"From whom?"

"Oh, people. My associates."

Great, another suspicious thing. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to turn down that offer. I'm grateful to you for what you did for me during the assassination classroom. It sucked at the time, but I feel like it really defined who I am. But my contract was renewed for next year."

"What about the year after that?" Asano seemed disappointed.

Nagisa looked at his now empty plate. "That's still up in the air."

Asano stirred his tea with a disappointed look. "Will you at least consider it for the future? Maybe that year?"

It was at that moment that Nagisa got a text from Akari.

 **Come home as soon as you can.**

Nagisa got up. "I'll think it over." Though he didn't believe he wanted to, he figured the offer deserved some more thought. "Sorry, my fiancée texted me and it was urgent."

"Do I know her?"

"Kaede Kayano."

The principal almost laughed. "I always did see the two of you hanging out."

Nagisa paused. "By the way, how did you get my email?"

"I have my ways."


	38. Chapter 38

**I was really hoping to finish this story by the New Year because January is going to be extremely busy for me. There will be 45 chapters total, so that would mean I would have to double-post chapters for a few days. According to what I've recently learned, however, that's considered bad form. Please tell me, in the reviews or via PM, if this fic being updated more than once in a day would bother you for any reason.**

 **Even if you're all okay with it, I can't swear I'll be doing that because, well we all know the servers are screwed up and have been for days. I keep getting 503 errors and I've been in contact with people who say that their documents aren't uploading.**

 **In response to mlpoknbji: Oops, I meant 160 cm (about 5"2). I've edited the previous chapter to correct this. Thank you for noticing.**

* * *

Asano having left him with that thought, Nagisa went straight home.

He pulled Akari into an embrace the moment he saw her. "Are you okay?" He panted.

Akari felt herself floating away in his arms. She felt safe and secure here. She took a second to collect herself, then showed Nagisa the email she got. "My manager," she huffed an explanation.

 **To: Akari Yukimura**

 **From: Yuu Kobayashi**

 **No Subject**

 **Hello Akari/Haruna,**

 **I am emailing because I could not reach you by phone and your inbox was full. This is still about the job offer you turned down a few months ago. You now have another job offer. They said they can write the plot of the play around your condition. Call me when you can for more information.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Yuu-san**

"I think I know who's 'offering' this job." Nagisa put air quotes around the verb offering.

"I think we can all guess." Akari rushed into the kitchen to grab the baby out of her high chair, and brought her into the living room. "I'm about to call."

Nagisa and Akari took care of what the baby needed. After she fell asleep and was put into her cradle, Akari made the call and put it on speaker.

"Hello?" The manager answered.

"I'm calling back about the email," She looked at Nagisa and put her index finger to her lips, indicating for him not to speak. Yuu didn't know about Akari's baby's father, and maybe now wasn't the best time for them to be introduced. Save that for a calmer day.

"Yes. _That._ " It sounded like he was shuffling through some papers, then stopped. "I believe that the duo who asked you to be in their advertisement and this pair… well, are probably the same people. Though the name of the guy speaking was different."

"What was his name?"

"Taro Yamada…. Allegedly. And he didn't give a name for his partner. But the way the guy on the phone spoke was… unnatural. It sounded so scripted. Like he wasn't believing anything that he said, or like someone put him up to it..."

Akari locked eyes with Nagisa and mouthed "One of their goons".

"… And the exact words he used were similar to the first pair. A whole lot of "We'd be so honored if Haruna-sama acknowledged us" and "We admire Haruna-sama so much". And he said he can work around your condition…"

"My condition," Akari's voice betrayed panic and horror. "Do they know…"

"When they called, they gave no indication that they knew the specifics."

"Do you have a recording of the call?"

"Unfortunately, no. But what I'm getting at is that whoever these guys are, they're really dedicated to contacting you. I may just be making a big deal out of a string of coincidences, but the theory fits. First they thought your ailment was physical, so they just wanted to use your face, now they're getting desperate and are making no attempt to hide it."

"So…" Akari breathed.

Nagisa couldn't help but to hyperventilate. "What do we do next…" He mouthed, rage flowing through him.

* * *

Nagisa was stuck in that room, tapping his foot absentmindedly. It was Friday, February 9th. Midterms were finally here, after another week of endless studying and sleepless nights.

And that meant boredom for everyone's favorite teacher. Kawaguchi and Narayama were proctoring the exams this time, so spending time with them was out of the question. Nagisa had asked the principal when he'd be proctoring, the only answer he got was "Eventually".

So Nagisa was holding lengthy text conversations with Akari. He got a lot of pictures of his sleeping daughter. Then one message from Karasuma interrupted his day.

 **We need to meet up. When are you available?**

They had agreed not to discuss secret matters over text due to his job and the risk that his phone was tapped. Nagisa looked at his calendar, it seemed he was free all of tomorrow.

Nagisa opened his eyes the next morning. It was Saturday. His students would take their college entrance exams tomorrow. Yawning, he stretched and got up.

 _I'll get the exam results back on Tuesday,_ his shoulder cracked. _I guess I'll do career counseling then too. The students won't know about college results until the first of March…_

Nagisa moved into the living room area, where Akari sat on the couch, breastfeeding the baby. Or rather, was trying to- Kaede was throwing a fit.

Akari's hair was disheveled. She looked up at her fiancé, dark circles under her eyes. It was obvious her energy was zapped. "She's fussy this morning."

"Let me take over. I'm the one who slept in." Nagisa took her out of Akari's arms and gently swayed back and forth. He sung her a lullaby.

"I wanted to give you a break. You've been so stressed with all this stuff at school." Akari yawned. She laid down on the couch and fell asleep almost instantly.

Nagisa paced around the flat, managing to quell his child's tantrum. He lowered his voice, careful not to wake the girl's mother. "Daddy's here. Shh, it's okay, calm down." Once she calmed down, he changed her into fuzzy purple penguin pajamas and laid her down on the couch next to Mommy while he prepared some lesson plans.

Karasuma and Irina came over for dinner later that day.

"So, what have you found?" Nagisa asked after filling them in on the recent developments in the case.

"It's gotten weird." Karasuma put his cup of tea on the table.

"How could it have gotten weirder?" Nagisa sat down cross-legged, putting the bowl of rice down.

"The goons we're chasing have just fallen off the face of the planet. We can't find them at all."

Nagisa handed Kaede to Irina. "How long has it been?"

"Since we last spoke. I've recently heard rumors that they were arrested in Shibuya. I'm investigating it." Karasuma rubbed his temples.

Irina rocked the baby back and forth. "So we're still on red-alert level indefinitely."

Karasuma got up close to her and stared awkwardly. The baby grabbed his nose. "I'm going to that part of Tokyo on Thursday. So we'll have to meet again." His voice was low and nasaly.

Nagisa nodded. "We'll keep our schedules open."

* * *

Nagisa both anxiously awaited and dreaded that Monday, so he did something to lower the stress level. Walking to school, he appreciated the fact that it was becoming slightly less cold and the snow was beginning to melt. Maybe spring would come early this year. But early spring always brought back a lot of memories for Nagisa and Akari, not all of them warm and fuzzy. Time to make another memory for this time of year. Nagisa could foresee himself standing on the edge of the soccer field, watching his class graduate with tears in his eyes. Akari next to him, holding Kaede. The falling sakura petals dotting the landscape. Nagisa remained in his reverie until he walked into a pole.

"Hello class," He took off his coat to reveal an ugly sweater. Painfully Christmas-themed with a big Christmas tree and a shiny gold star at the top. The words _Merry Late Christmas_ were written at the top in English. The lights around the tree even lit up if Nagisa pressed a button on his sleeve.

The class cringed so hard they got whiplash. "How could you be so lame, Shiota-sensei!?" Their roars echoed down the hall.

Nagisa snickered. "My old teacher used to wear this brand. I'm just keeping her memory alive." He sat down, ready to begin the day. "Kaede has a matching one."

He turned around to write on the board in neon pink chalk (grab their attention, he thought). _The final sessions of career counseling are on Monday and Tuesday. Please sign up for a time slot. Assassination attempts are welcome._ He added a little doodle of an octopus in yellow.

"What's that and why is it there?" Shisaki threw a freshly sharpened pencil at Nagisa.

"Nevermind him." Nagisa grabbed it in midair and walked it back to the student. "He's someone I hold dear."

"What is your damn obsession with octopuses?" Azuki tried to trip him as he walked by his desk; Nagisa neatly stepped over.

"It's _octopi_." Nagisa corrected with a smile.

Halfway through Modern Japanese, Nagisa decided to open up Pandora's Box, metaphorically speaking. "So how were midterms?"

The class muttered varying responses.

"Meh."

"Easy as pie."

"I'm sure I came in 100th place."

Now Nagisa didn't know what to expect. "And college entrance exams?"

"We're fucked." The class deadpanned unanimously.

* * *

Tuesday at lunchtime, the results of the exams were placed on Nagisa's desk. He debated for a second, should they go to the big scoreboard in the hall where everyone would see their reactions? And they could see everyone else's? No, probably not a good idea, considering they had no idea how they did yet. Too many conflicting opinions. So, with shaky fingers, Nagisa opened the envelope and pushed it out towards the high schoolers crowded around his desk.

Shigeki Aida, 40th place. Yoshio Azuki, 63th place. Hiro Izumoto, 70th place. Ichiro Kagato, 71st place. Mamoru Kazama, 55th place. Kotori Kasegawa, 60th place. Kimiya Shisaki, 32nd place. Konosuke Takemura, 68th place. Yukito Tsukuda, 37th place. Kentaro Toshima, 20th place. Moritaka Hamada, 65th place. Hayata Banno, 72nd place.

An atmosphere of sullenness overtook the class. "We couldn't make it…"

Regret hit Nagisa like a tsunami. "… I'm sorry."

The class all blinked at the same time. "Huh?"

"… I'm sorry class. I failed you, this is my fault. I shouldn't have given you another thing to stress out about when you also had to worry about college entrance exams, and about the school festival…" Nagisa showed weakness in front of his class for the first time. He sat back down in his seat and hid his face in his hands.

He was surprised- overjoyed, really- when he was distracted from his self-pity by a gentle tap on the shoulder. He lifted his head. It was Banno.

"D-don't look at it like that, Shiota-sensei. We all improved a lot. I-I used to come in dead last for these exams we have four times a year-"

"We have them six times a year." Shisaki ruined the moment.

"Shut up. Anyways, we've all come so far this year. We should be happy with our progress." He smiled, though it showed no confidence.

"Yeah." Takemura supported him. "I mean, who cares if we can't brag to the rest of the school? We can feel proud of what we've accomplished. Isn't that all that matters?"

Nagisa wiped tears away as subtly as possible (He didn't want his students to see that). "You're both right. I know I've told you this before only to take it back, but don't worry about rankings from now on. Just focus on doing your best, okay?"

"Yes!" It was another unanimous response from the class.

* * *

Career counseling came and went. Most of the students didn't have much to add to what they had already told their sensei, they were just waiting to see which schools accepted them. Kazama had decided he wanted to work in an office for a bank. Toshima was going to pursue an English degree and see where it took him. And Tsukuda just walked out saying "Wait 'til you talk to _him_ ", which greatly puzzled Nagisa.

Now Azuki sat in the desk directly in front of his teacher. "I liked managing our haunted house. I think I could manage a convenience store or something."

Nagisa doodled a little Yukimura-sensei to go along the Koro-sensei drawing. It was really just a stick figure. "Okay. What college did you apply to, again?"

"The local public one."

"I think that suits you well."

Kagato walked in. Nagisa sighed. This was the last possible timeslot. "And how are you?"

"I've done all my community service."

"Oh?" Nagisa began to erase the board, but left Koro-sensei and Yukimura-sensei. "What did you do?"

"I cleaned up the park by the train station."

"Huh." Nagisa didn't expect that from him. "I was there this past weekend. I didn't see you."

"I went at 4:30 in the morning. Fewer people to annoy me."

"If that works for you, good." Nagisa packed his bag. "And what about your career prospects?"

"I got to feed the ducks." Kagato went on, seemingly ignoring Nagisa.

"I guess they came back north early."

"They did. And shaddup, I'm trying to tell a story. Anyway, the ducks liked me. I didn't fight with them. Unlike people. People suck. So I was thinking," He stared at his feet. "I'm gonna help Tsukuda with his animal rescue thing."

"Oh, so that's what he meant." Nagisa faced his 'most difficult student'. "But you applied to college anyway?"

"Yeah. Just in case."

"That's a good backup plan. After all, every assassin must wield a second blade."

* * *

Wedding invitations were laminated and found their way into the mailboxes of E Class and their closest friends. Karma woke up to an angry text from Gakushuu Asano one morning.

 **AKABANE!** **Give me either Nagisa's or Kayano's number so I can berate them. Inviting me to a wedding 8290 milometers away… do they really think I'll attend!? Is this another dumb E Class 'joke'?**

Karma, pleased to start his morning this way, replied.

 **Aww, you're breaking my heart, Asano-kun!~ Does this mean you won't come? Don't you want to see the spawn of that girly-looking guy and the only one in E Class shorter than him? She's perfect!**

And _ding_.

 **Whaaaaat!? I haven't even gotten a girlfriend yet!**

Karma just had to push it.

 **Well, Nakamura's about 7 hours south of you, but she has both standards and a boyfriend who's not a total bonehead, so don't bother. See, you have to come back to see how much better we're all doing than you. I think you and I are also overdue for a rematch.**

Gakushuu threw himself on his bed. He had just gotten out from his graduate classes 20 minutes before and the difficult part of the day was over. He really didn't want to have this conversation, but he realized it was on him for starting it. Rolling his eyes, he pressed 'send'.

 **For the millionth time, I WAS DRUNK that one time I said she was cute. And I won't be at this wedding! I mean, I am coming back that week to visit my father, but… Nevermind.**

Nagisa and Akari were more than surprised when they got the RSVP back from Gakushuu Asano.


	39. Chapter 39

**Your voices have been heard. I will be posting as often as I possibly can, assuming the website cooperates. And next chapter is where shit gets real, so prepare thyself.**

 **Also happy birthday to Kaede Shiota (December 28th)!**

* * *

 _Wednesday, February 14th. 30 days 'til finals_ , Nagisa wrote on the board. With a moment of thought, he quickly added _32 days 'til graduation._

Valentine's Day had arrived. Of course no one wanted to be in school today. Senioritis was kicking in hard. The class tried to subtly talk through the group chat all day. They only got away with it some of the time.

 **Kentaro Toshima: What are we doing for our graduation trip?**

 **Kimiya Shisaki: Are we even doing one? The principal will probably shut it down.**

 **Mamoru Kazama: Certainly nothing that costs money, I hope.**

 **Kotori Kasegawa: Watch out, The Beast is looking in your direction!**

"Kazama. Put that phone down or I'll confiscate it." Nagisa scolded him. He did as he was told and did not further contribute to the conversation.

 **Ichiro Kagato: Haha.**

 **Shigeki Aida: Don't be a dick dude. Most of the time that's you getting reprimanded.**

 **Ichiro Kagato: Fuck off.**

 **Konosuke Takemura: Is everyone free after school? Let's meet up in the woods near the shed.**

 **Moritaka Hamada: Not today!**

 **Konosuke Takemura: Why? Because it's Valentine's Day? As if anyone in this class is getting chocolates from anyone.**

 **Moritaka Hamada: I can dream!**

 **Yukito Tsukuda: I have to see the doctor at four.**

 **Yoshio Azuki: Did they finally found out about the alien DNA?**

 **Hiro Izumoto: Can I borrow someone's notes?**

 **Konosuke Takemura: Alright fine, idiots. Can we all do Friday after school?**

 **This post was liked by Shigeki Aida, Yoshio Azuki, Hiro Izumoto, Ichiro Kagato, Kotori Kasegawa, Kimiya Shisaki, Yukito Tsukuda, Kentaro Toshima, Moritaka Hamada, and Hayata Banno.**

 **Yoshio Azuki: And Kazama says okay too, even though he's staring out the window.**

* * *

After a somewhat uneventful day at school, Nagisa rode the train home. He adjusted his surgical mask, to avoid breathing in any of the germs from the coughing people. It was that time of year. He was looking forward to tonight, Akari told him to "come home right after work".

Akari was rushing around the kitchen. Nagisa would be here any moment. The lights were dimmed and scented candles were lit to create a romantic atmosphere. The freshly homemade chocolate was cooling in the fridge. When the oven beeped, Akari took the dinner out, burning her hands. "Ow!" She put it on the counter, not looking at it. She made the salad in a rush, applying way too much dressing. Now she went into the bedroom for the finishing touch.

Nagisa opened the door. "Tadaima," He announced, taking off the mask and throwing it away. He was glad to be indoors and finally see his fiancée.

"Nagisa!" Akari called from the bedroom. She was wearing the same dress she wore when he kissed her for the first time in the Japanese silver grass field. It fit a bit too snugly. Frowning, she threw on the scarf that went with it. _If I don't lose this weight soon, people will get suspicious when I go back to showbiz._ "I'm coming."

Nagisa shut the door and locked it tight. "Are you seducing me?" He smirked.

Akari appeared in front of him. "Trying to."

Nagisa's mouth hung open.

"I… You… I didn't expect to see that."

"I'm just full of surprises." She kissed him.

"Where is Kaede?"

"My father took her. We have 'til eight."

After Nagisa took a shower and got into comfortable clothes, the pair sat for what was supposed to be a romantic candlelit dinner. Except the candles kept going out. And there was a draft, the source of which could not be located (Akari had checked that every door and window to the outside was locked and closed securely). And the meat was dry and the potatoes were burnt.

"So how was your day?" Nagisa asked Akari, chewing on a potato.

"I spent it getting ready for this." She looked at the ground. "Sorry, it really doesn't show."

"Don't apologize, it's fine." Nagisa ate the meat. He wasn't sure exactly what it was. Beef? No wait, maybe it was fish.

She began to cry. "Really Nagisa, I'm sorry! I'm paranoid and I'm always on red alert! I've know you've got an eye on Shibata and Nakagawa at school, but what if they find out where we live and show up when we least expect it?"

Nagisa dashed over to her. He hugged her and wiped her tears with the sleeve of his pajamas. "We'll just have to defend ourselves. Remember what Koro-sensei taught us. We're still assassins." In truth, he did agree with her sentiment, but he was focused on trying to calm her down right now.

"Oh, I know we can handle it if it escalates, but I don't _want_ it to escalate." Akari's tears were slowing. Nagisa kept wiping them. "This is no way to live."

"I know, I know Akari." He kissed her forehead. "We see Karasuma-sensei and Bitch-sensei tomorrow. We'll ask them for advice. Let's just enjoy Valentine's Day for today."

"Hmhmm." She nodded.

The last candle on the table went out. Nagisa reached for the lighter, but Akari pushed it away.

"Screw the damn light." She got up and attacked his lips with hers.

* * *

Karasuma met with Nagisa and Akari again that Thursday night. This time they were at their former teachers' house. It was a small house, but very cozy. The walls were now painted a turquoise color and the decor matched.

Nagisa sat down and brushed the cat hair off of his clothes. They had just dropped off Kaede at Okuda's apartment, where she and Karma would babysit. Momo the cat had grown big and still recognized Nagisa, jumping on his lap and rubbing up against him.

"So I went to Shibuya yesterday. There is good news," Karasuma began.

A dog in the corner lifted his head and barked. Neither Nagisa nor Akari noticed it there before, and reacted with shock.

"That's Jeremiah. He's retired from the K-9 unit and was given to me. He won't bother you." The husky approached Akari and rested his head on her knee.

Akari petted the dog. "Animals like us today."

"Anyway, the good news is the rumors are true. All five of those goons were arrested there. They're currently being held in a jail in the city. I was able to use my job to pull some strings so that I could see them; I can indeed confirm that those were the guys you saw chasing me."

"… So that means that they were the ones who were coming after you, Akari." Nagisa turned to his fiancée, petting Jeremiah's head. "Can I see a picture of them?"

Karasuma sighed. "This is breaking protocol put I'll let you see."

Nagisa studied the picture. Five of them. All looked to be between the ages of 25 and 35 and of varying body types. Some had no hair, one had hair that reached to his waist. All were dyed blond. He was definitely willing to believe that the voices he heard chasing Karasuma that September day belonged to these guys. Nagisa took a photo of the photo so that there would be no proof that Karasuma shared it with him. He texted the picture to Satoshi with the question "Are any of these guys your loan sharks?"

"The case is still under investigation, but the initial reason for the arrest was that they were offering their criminal services… to an undercover cop posing as a waitress at a family restaurant. They thought she needed someone to arrange a Ponzi scheme for her."

"Classy." The sarcasm stung. "Wait, why was the cop posing…"

"It's a long story. All I'll tell you about that is avoid going to any waffle houses in Tokyo for a while. But I digress. We don't know for sure yet how many people are involved."

"I wish there was something I could report Shibata and Nakagawa for." Nagisa threw his hands up in frustration. "I mean, I'm pretty certain they're embezzling money from the school in some way, but I have no proof. I'd report it to the school, but no one would believe me. I just want an end to it before the get their hands on 'Haruna Mase'."

Jeremiah jumped up to sit on Nagisa's and Akari's laps.

"Well," Akari chewed on her fingertips. "The muscle of the operation is locked up, so half of the problem is taken care of. That just leaves our little teachers." She was deep in thought. Nagisa could feel her exhaustion and paranoia. He shared it. "Well, I ran into stooge number two in my disguise and he didn't seem to suspect anything. So from now on I'll only go out in my full disguise. I mean, full hair and makeup. Maybe even a pair of contacts."

Nagisa's phone _dinged_. It was a response from Satoshi.

 **Yes, those are my loan sharks!**

"Well there you have it." Nagisa showed the texted to everyone. "These are the guys. Now all we have to do is figure out how the two stooges fit into this."

Nagisa sent another text, this time to Kimura, a simple "Our goons were arrested." He awaited a reply.

* * *

Friday was another uneventful day. The countdown to graduation continued, feeble attempts were made on Nagisa's life, and Nagisa calculated that the GPA of the average 3-5 student rose 43% from the beginning of the year. He wanted to be happy about that (after all, it would make Koro-sensei proud), but he couldn't get his mind off of this whole Shibata-Nakagawa thing.

Nagisa was checking out the shed in the back after school. To give them a "fun" assignment for the end of the year, he was going to ask them to build a fort in the back woods. He had already gotten the okay from the principal. So here he was looking for any supplies that may be of use.

The moment Nagisa entered the shed, however, he knew that he was not alone. But given his attitude as of recently, he chose to be the snake. Hide in the shadows and let no one, friend or foe, know that he was there. So he got on his knees and rummaged through the bottom shelf while remaining aware of his surroundings.

Nope, nothing interesting here. Just a whole bunch of traffic cones and jump ropes. Nagisa felt a mix of different emotions run through him when the footsteps he heard from inside the shed started to remind him of someone who was on his mind a lot recently. Someone who walked softly and gently, but with a hidden purpose.

Shibata smiled and shoved a garbage bag into his school bag. He then looked at his phone with frustration. "Where is that idiot… We agreed on Monday for this, he better get this act together." He muttered without thinking. Nagisa stayed still and quiet as possible.

Of course, fate had it at that moment that Shibata sneezed, causing him to look down and see Nagisa. "Oh, hi there…" The drama teacher was caught off guard. No one came here after school on a Friday during the winter!

"… Hello." Nagisa's mind was torn into warring factions about what to do and how to handle this situation now. Should he play dumb? Should he try to follow him and figure out what he was doing? Or should he just take control of the situation and confront him?

Shibata just sat there staring at his phone and intermittently casting glances at Nagisa. It was only a few moments, but that was all Nagisa needed to think. And he decided that it was time to be serious now.

"… Alright, the jig is up." Nagisa snapped. "I know you're up to some shady shit. You and Nakagawa."

Shibata froze for a minute, contemplating what to do. He decided to play dumb and revert to his 'quiet and gentle' façade. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Shiota-san. I'm only looking for props for the next play. I just want to help my students, just like you-"

"The hell you do." Nagisa's bloodlust was building up. He switched into assassin mode for a moment. He could use his bloodlust to intimidate his students. Maybe that would work on these guys. So he went for the oldest trick in his book.

He walked slowly up to Shibata. Carefully, calmly, as if he were walking to work in the morning. Nagisa thought of a picture in his dad's wallet: himself, aged five, seeing the penguins at the zoo. He tried to replicate the smile he had when one stared at him as he fed it a fish. A 'happy to see you' look.

Just as he was about to deliver the 'killing blow', his opponent turned away and started out the door. He was seemingly unfazed by Nagisa's assassin-like personality. He must be used to dangerous people, Nagisa thought with immeasurable disappointment. Then again, he figured he should have known that.

"Shiota-san, you should take a vacation. It seems like you need it." Shibata took off his glasses to look at Nagisa. "The stress of graduation is getting to you."

"Yeah, maybe teaching 3-5 is a little much on you." Dammit. Nagisa hadn't noticed that Nakagawa had walked into the shed as well.

The two criminals left the room, leaving the door open and allowing the sound of their footsteps in the mud to be the soundtrack of their foe's thoughts. Nagisa writhed with an uncharacteristic rage, internally debating what to do before he resigned himself to going home to his family. There he could think things out and feel comfortable. And he could account for their safety. Yes, home was the best place to be, so he started off towards there.

Nagisa was not aware that all of his students were in the woods behind the shed and were listening in on that exchange.

They stood there blinking and watched their sensei leave the premises. They had come to talk about a graduation trip, suddenly it was the last thing on their minds. What was with all this talk about 'the jig' being up? But Shiota-sensei had shown to be trustworthy all year. If he knew something was up with these two, his class wanted to know about it too. Everyone was quiet until Toshima spoke up.

"… Kotori?"

"Hm?" The redhead picked at her split ends absentmindedly.

"Do you still have the master key to the school?"

"Yes, why?"

Toshima gulped. He didn't think he'd ever be leading the charge for anything.

"Shiota-sensei helped us in our time of need. I think it's time to return the favor."


	40. Chapter 40

Sunday night. Or rather, it was actually early Monday morning. The class known as 3-5 was wandering around the Paradise High campus at a time when they really shouldn't have been doing that.

Kotori Kasegawa, unlocked the door to the shed with a grumpy face.

"You sure you locked all the doors that we used in the main building?"

"Yes, I'm sure." She rolled her eyes. "Ugh. It's 2 a.m. I should be in pajamas right now. Why couldn't we have done this yesterday or the day before?" With a shove, the door opened.

"Then we would have missed the all weekend long Haruhi Suzimiya marathon!" The class threw up their arms in shock and horror.

The class filled in the room. Kasegawa shut the door to prevent even more of a draft. _I could be watching the Sailor Moon reruns right now, but we HAD to do it now,_ she internally cursed as she got to her hands and feet and looked on the floor. What she didn't realize was that this door not only locked from outside, but also automatically and was known for getting stuck when it did so.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Tsukuda called out over the piles of woodwork.

"I don't know." He threw aside a burlap sac. "Just anything that looks suspicious."

"I want to find something juicy." Aida snickered.

"I w _ant_ my bedroom." Hamada yawned. He eyed a stick of red bean jelly. Why would someone keep that there? Teachers were so lame.

The class spent thirty minutes searching the shed and found nothing to their interest. So it was time to head home.

The door did not budge. The class all crowded the door, smashing the knob, trying to kick in the door, trying anything to get it open. But it would not move in the slightest.

"Shit…" Many whispered in dread.

They then tried to smash into the door, but it was all to no avail. The increase in the yearly budget must have been to improve security.

"We're stuck here…" It dawned on them all.

Azuki looked at his phone. "Someone will be able to come get us in five hours. The P.E. teacher unlocks this thing at 7:30 every morning, no matter the time of year."

"We're seriously going to stay here until then?" Banno gasped.

"The only other people who could get us out now would be the cops, and I really don't feel like explaining to them that we were trespassing and breaking and entering for shits and giggles tonight." Kazama got angry.

"Getting arrested could make us lose our college acceptances." Shisaki added.

"What about our families?" Izumoto asked the question that only really applied to him and very few other people present.

His classmates laughed. "Text them in a few hours to say you left for school early."

"My phone is about to die."

"Well, look at the start this week is off to."

* * *

As for Nagisa, he went home and cooled down for the weekend. He spent the time playing with his daughter and baking cookies. He waited on a response from Kimura, but it didn't come.

That's not to say Nagisa wasn't prepared for Monday morning. He packed his bag heavy for the start of the week. Koro-sensei's book of advice to live by was at the bottom of his bag. A notepad, for him to record everything suspicious. He woke up early and spent the morning going over the techniques that Karasuma and Lovro taught him.

He now stood at the kitchen table at 7:00 a.m., kissing the baby and his fiancée goodbye. "Be careful, Akari." He whispered softly.

She nodded.

And so that day began for Nagisa.

* * *

At about the same time, Shibata and Nakagawa were dropping by the shed again. It was long before anyone would show up for school so now was a good time to check that everything was as it needed to be. They were wearing disguises too, something that was becoming a common theme in Kunugigaoka.

When Nakagawa (disguised in a ski mask and baggy clothing) opened the door to see some of his former students, he almost screamed.

"Who the fuck are you!?" They shouted.

"Why are you here?" He shrieked, then reached for the voice-changing technology he had hidden in his pocket.

"Eh. Nevermind. We wanted to kidnap one of the important classes but you'll do, I guess." The man clad in lazy clothes shrugged. "Boys?" He called from over his shoulder.

The class was caught completely unaware by what happened next. Five, six, no, eight, no, no one could tell how many big burly men barged in the room and grabbed the students. They had no concern for preserving the captives, as students were grabbed with great force, some yanked by their hair, some were even choked. They were blindfolded by force and had clothes tied around their mouths to prevent them from screaming. Then all were thrown on the ground and the door was promptly locked, leaving them with two of the goons.

It was now 7:05 a.m.

* * *

Nagisa now stood in his classroom, waiting for his students to appear. It was 7:25. A bit weird that no one was here yet, but maybe they were just lagging behind a bit. A little bit of relaxing on punctuality could be forgiven, after all they were usually very good about making it to class on time.

By 7:30 the bell rung and still no one was there. By 7:40 Nagisa was started to get a bit concerned. He tried to call several of his students, but got no answer. So Nagisa went to explore other classrooms. They all seemed full of their usual class roster. Even Nakagawa's class was full. Nagisa received a text at that moment from Kimura.

 **Yeah, those guys. They were arrested in Shibuya, but they broke out and we found out they have buddies. The Tokyo cops are on their trail right now.**

As dread was beginning to collect in Nagisa's heart, an announcement came over the loudspeaker.

 **Paradise High School is undergoing a mandatory evacuation as of right now. Please line up in alphabetical order, and proceed to your class's assigned spot on the soccer field.**

 _They didn't say drill,_ Nagisa thought to himself. He joined the swaths of high schoolers in their journey to the soccer field, intending to look for the one person who might be able to right this.

* * *

Akari was moving around the house, getting some cleaning done. The tv was on in the background. The news report about a tree that fell down a few towns away did not interest her. The baby was in her room sleeping.

Akari grabbed some wipes from the cabinet. She cleaned off the tabletop. Now she went to make sure the baby was okay.

She smiled to herself as she walked to the baby's room. Minus the whole paranoia aspect, she really liked living this life. Nagisa would be home in nine hours and they'd spend the evening together. Just waiting for that was enough to bring her through the day.

Once Akari got into the baby's room, her phone dinged with a text message. It was from her manager.

 **Can you come to the studio today? We need to discuss the contract, and specifically how it regards your hiatus. This could affect you the next season of** ** _Dragonfly_** **, so as soon as possible would be preferable.**

Akari sighed. She really did not want to go all the way to the studio today. It would be dead empty because nothing filmed on Mondays. And she really just didn't want to go out at all because of the Shibata-Nakagawa thing. But she didn't want to risk her job, not just by jeopardizing her contract with the studio but also by ignoring her manager's pleasant requests.

So, with a roll of her eyes, she responded.

 **Okay**.

In a sour mood, she assumed she could bring the baby. After all, the studio was closed today except for her manager who went there to get paperwork done. And he did say he wanted to meet the baby. After quickly pulling up her hair and putting green hairspray in (no time for dye), she left for the studio.

* * *

The goon who was chosen to watch over the captives was getting bored. So he decided to unmask the students and reveal what was happening to them. Their hands were still tied behind their backs and they were chained to the walls of the shed, so it wasn't like they could fight back. He might at least get some satisfaction from tormenting them.

"Boys and girl. I'm sure you want to know what's happening here-"

"Uh, fuck yeah we do." Kasegawa snapped without an ounce of humor.

"More or less, we're holding you hostage. There's a bomb on this shed. It'll blow up the entire campus at noon unless someone pays up. And the rest of the school has evacuated, so it's just you who are in danger."

"Pays up _what_?"

"Let us out you _ass_!"

The class began to charge at him, but they were restrained by their chains.

The goon, whose identity was protected by a ski mask, pulled out a stool and sat down. "We've got four hours. Try all you want to get out of those restraints. I've got nothing but time."

* * *

Akari arrived at the studio. She let herself in, and was somewhat comforted by the silence in such a big building. Her manager's office was on the fourteenth floor, so she went towards the elevator.

Everything here was exactly as she had left it, which was comforting. There were posters from a show she did as a child. A stain on the carpet on the third floor from where she vomited early during her pregnancy (They had nine months to completely remove that)…

The elevator dinged as it reached her desired destination. Admiring the potted plants by the windowsill, Akari gently patted the baby's back and walked to the bathroom to wash the paint out of her hair, as it was itchy and uncomfortable. She had brought more to reapply before she went out again. She then walked to her manager's office in room 1435.

She knocked and received no verbal beckoning. She knocked again, still no answer. So she just opened up the door. And was assaulted before she could even process what was happening to her.

There were three guys and two of them jumped her. One delivered a blow to the back of her head, knocking her out cold and causing her to fall against the bookshelf. The baby threw a tantrum.

The criminals had this planned out and acted quickly, so they didn't actually take a look at their victim until now.

"What!? A damn **baby**?" One of them shrieked. He was slapped by his coworker.

"Don't be that guy. We have to work around this now." He took the baby from her arms. "See another hostage victim. Check her pulse to make sure we didn't kill her. If we did we'll not only go to prison but also get murdered there for it."

The third guy did so. "She's fine, just unconscious."

"Good. Now stuff her into that burlap sack and let's get going."

* * *

Just when 3-5 thought the day couldn't get any weirder, they were joined by someone they never thought they would even meet in person.

The sac was taken off of her head to reveal someone everyone in that room knew and loved. Flowing black locks. Long eyelashes. Brown eyes. Haruna Mase, queen of the morning dramas, stood before them in all her glory.

The goon next to 'Haruna' held an infant. Haruna spun around to face him.

"Give. Her. To. Me. _Now._ " She growled with a ferocity that even she didn't know she was capable of until that moment. The rage that the tentacles had once sent her into was nothing compared to this primal fury.

"But you're-"

The whole room was overwhelmed by her bloodlust. No one expected it from the gorgeous, charming, talented Haruna Mase, the one who started their mornings a little brighter.

She spoke in a whisper, one just loud enough for everyone else to hear if they were all quiet. "I said. Give her to me now, or I'll make you regret every decision you've made in your pitiful little life up until this point."

The goon just gave in and handed her the child. She tore her out of his hands, which calmed her crying. The woman known as Haruna Mase clutched the child as if she'd never let her go. This, unfortunately, gave the man the opportunity to chain her up.

No one even took any time to question why Haruna Mase had a baby, the main question on the students' minds was what exactly was she doing here. And in such a tense situation, none of them dared to ask.

'Haruna' already knew exactly what this was about and who was behind this. So she sat with her daughter, biding her time and thinking through her escape plan. She needed to wait for the appropriate time to strike. She was an assassin, after all.

* * *

Gakuto Akino sat at the bleachers, chewing his nails and juggling phone calls from every government office in the country. The school had only been on lockdown for twenty minutes, but it had felt like hours.

His newest hire stood in front of him, waiting to be addressed. "Hello, Shiota-san."

"Where are my students?" Nagisa didn't want to waste any more time on greetings.

The principal stared. "They aren't with you?"

"None of them showed up for class today."

"… Oh. Well, that must mean…" Nagisa had never heard the principal use that tone before. "Well, Shiota-san, it would appear that there's bad news."

Time seemed to stop. "W-What?"

"It looks like your class is the one that's being held hostage."

* * *

Nakagawa and Shibata were thrilled with this day's progression, but they made every effort not to show it.

Rumors were passed around the students sitting on the soccer field, and they were correct for once. There was a bomb somewhere on the school's premises, and one of the classes was being held hostage unless someone payed 10,000,000 yen.

Nakagawa sent a text to Shibata.

 **Initiating Operation Delta now.**

* * *

Nagisa was at a loss for words, his heart was pounding so hard he couldn't hear his voice when he spoke. The principal explained what was happening, but Nagisa was overtaken, possessed by the same bloodlust he felt when Takaoka destroyed the 'antidote'.

"Where is the class?"

"We're searching the building. Hell, they might be lying about them being here at all."

That answer wasn't good enough for Nagisa. He bolted towards the building. The only one who saw it was the principal, and rather than chase him he decided to let it go.

 _This is his opportunity to prove himself to me as an educator_ , Principal Akino thought as he continued to make phone calls.

Nagisa searched through the school like a hurricane. They weren't in the gym, or any of the classrooms, or even the basement. The actual search team found and reprimanded him at one point.

"I'm the teacher of the class that's being held hostage." He barked, and ran off to check the roof.

One of the search guys just stared. "Should we stop him…"

The head of the team, a former educator himself, shook his head. "He's their teacher. Let him do this. It's his obligation."

* * *

News broke that no one was going to pay the ransom ("We're sending the police. We don't bargain with terrorists," Akino told the reporters). It was now 9:30, and many of the parents called demanding that their children be sent home, which Akino refused as 'the bombs could be anywhere, we need to account for the kids'. Nakagawa and Shibata were getting impatient. When the deadline of 10 a.m. struck, they took matters into their own hands.

And so Nakagawa was currently walking to the shed. They had this all planned out. After they collected the money (though it didn't look like that was happening anymore), he'd barge in the shed and be the class's savior. That way no one would suspect them and they'd be the heroes. And Haruna-sama would be there, and she'd soon and be his forever. Shibata controlled from the shadows and would get 60% of the money they extorted. And his friends in the Yakuza would arrange for the henchmen's escapes. Yes, this plan was foolproof, Nakagawa, who came up with it, thought.

He broke into the shed, imagining triumphant music playing in the background. "3-5!" He played the part of the doting teacher quite well, but no one was buying it today. He turned towards the goon in pretend shock. They had gone over this before, but the goon had expected more time before this part.

"Huh?" He blinked. "Wait, what are you doing, I thought we-"

Nakagawa noticed his idol. "Haruna-sama, you poor thing! I'll save you." He turned towards the goon and charged him.

Realizing he needed to play along now, the nameless and faceless man went down unrealistically. It was at this point that 3-5 instantly called bullshit. They had been in many fights in their day, someone as skinny as Nakagawa couldn't take down a guy as big as that that with one shove.

Their culprit turned towards the object of his affection. "Haruna-sama, I never would have thought they'd have gotten you," He didn't even care that the class was right there. He ran his hand through her hair. Then he noticed the baby. He didn't recognize it, though. "How do you have…"

Akari stayed calm for a few moments. Breathe in. Breathe out. She had her hands full with the baby. She finally managed to yank with enough force to undo her chain. Then she jumped up and delivered a kick to Nakagawa's neck. It brought her back to 3-E.

He fell to the ground, but did not pass out. "It's fine, Haruna-sama. I saved you. You don't need to be shy. About the kid-"

* * *

Nagisa was hyperventilating. The students weren't anywhere to be found! Were they being held off campus? He knew it was fruitless to try texting them. He even checked the boiler room, and the secret sub-basement. Nagisa thought hard. _Koro-sensei, Yukimura-sensei, if you can still help me from beyond the grave, please…_

Nagisa's phone dinged with a message from Kawaguchi.

 **Nagisa, where are you? Apparently** **Haruna Mase** **is being held hostage with them!? And a baby too! Maybe they're trying to up the ransom…**

There was no more Nagisa, he was replaced with the serpent who killed Koro-sensei, the one who took down Takaoka. It came to him that there was one place on campus left to check. The shed. He flew towards there. He didn't even feel his feet hit the ground anymore.

* * *

Akari had handed the baby to Takemura. She was deciding what would be the best way to fight off both of these guys. They were clearly of different physical abilities. She blocked out Nakagawa's questions about her child. She hoped help would come soon, but decided to do her best to handle herself for now.

Nagisa burst through the door at that second, pinning Nakagawa to the ground. "I have been waiting to do this for so long!" He sat on his enemy, pulled the book of Koro-sensei's advice out of his bag, and dropped it on his face.

The police came in after him, making a beeline for the kids. Kimura pinned the goon in a chokehold. "Nagisa! Kayano! We're here!"

It was then that Takemura realized that he had seen this baby before. "You- You're! Haruna-sama! You're Akari!"

Akari did not bother denying it, she just high-fived Nagisa with her free hand.

"I told you so!" Hamada cheered.


	41. Chapter 41

**As promised, a double chapter.**

 **To the people who are following this, please inform me if you did not get the email alert for Chapter 40. It wasn't being pushed to the top of the archive and wasn't reading as having updated this afternoon, so I'm just hoping you all got your alerts.**

 **Credit goes to Tsukiko K for an idea he/she suggested that will come up at the end of the chapter.**

* * *

Nagisa sat in the Kunugigaoka police station, sipping a cup of water that he was given. He was in an off-white room surrounded by whiteboards. It might be an ideal learning environment for a small class with a short attention span, as there was not much to be distracted by. Akari was in the next room with the baby. Nakagawa, each of the students, the goons, and everyone else directly involved in the event were also in the station in separate rooms. They would each be examined and interrogated. Nagisa was waiting for his turn.

The bomb squad did finally disable that bomb. It was disguised as a stick of red bean jelly, which reminded Nagisa of his days in the assassination classroom. The rest of the school day was cancelled, and the school was currently being searched for any more threats. In the meantime, Nagisa sent out a group message to everyone in his contacts who might've saw the news explaining that he, Akari, and Kaede were okay and that the students were safe. Everything was under control, for now.

He was hoping that Kimura would be the one to interrogate him but instead a big old man with a gray beard joined him in the room. "Hello," The officer bowed to Nagisa. "All the officers are fighting over who gets to interrogate Haruna Mase. They even bought gifts for her."

Nagisa chuckled. "She certainly is something special."

"Definitely, but I figured it mattered more to the young ones so I didn't bother to fight them on it." The officer sat down in a chair. "Call me Officer Higa. I have to know in great detail what happened here, so be as specific as possible."

Nagisa crossed his legs. "Where do you want me to begin?"

Thirty minutes later, the officer had to get a new notebook because the one he was using was already full. "This was all going on in my own town?"

"I've spent my whole life here, and I was just as surprised as you."

Officer Higa wrote down a few more notes. "I still have more questions"

"Ask away, I want these people behind bars."

"Are you having an affair with Haruna-sama?"

Nagisa tried to dodge the question. "Well, I don't call her that, see-"

"You have to tell me the truth. And I promise I will not reveal it to the public if it's true, this is just for investigative purposes. I'll make myself more explicitly clear: Have you at any point slept with the woman known as Haruna Mase?"

"Yes."

Both men heard Kaede crying in the other room. Nagisa stood up. "May I go see my daughter for just a second?"

"Her child is yours!? Biologically!?" The officer's mouth hung open.

'She is." Nagisa smiled. With the officer's permission, he went into the next room to calm his daughter.

* * *

Nagisa's parents and Satoshi were over that night. They had reverted back to what they were like when their children were toddlers, fuzzing and fretting over them.

"I was so terrified when I heard the news report." Nagisa's mom wiped her nose. "My poor baby threatened by those thugs."

"We could handle it, Mom." Nagisa muttered. "But it could have turned out a lot worse."

Hiromi's eyes lit up when she held Kaede. She surprised her with a stuffed unicorn, which Kaede greatly appreciated. "Grandma was worried about you! But you're back for me to spoil," She pinched her granddaughter's cheek.

Satoshi patted Akari's head. "Are you okay, dear? Those men didn't hurt you?"

"Nope. I'm an assassin, through and through." She watched her baby play with her family. "I think they were in more danger from _me_."

Satoshi hugged his only living child. "That's my girl. You'd make your mother proud."

* * *

Classes continued on starting the next day, as the school was declared safe. Shibata and Nakagawa did not come in at all that week. Nagisa was pounded by questions from both his class and even random students that approached him in the halls.

"Where did you get that big book?" Kagato asked before fourth period on Tuesday.

"An old teacher." Nagisa began the class with a fond thought.

"No one ever told me you were that badass." Izumoto remarked on Wednesday during cleanup duty.

"I do my best," Nagisa scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Is Haruna-sama really your fiancée and baby momma!?" Tsukuda, who hid that he was a big fan, looked at Nagisa with big and glittering eyes on a bright Thursday afternoon.

Nagisa smiled. One of the good tidbits from all this was that none of the news reports mentioned his relationship to 'Haruna' or the baby. He put his index finger to his lips.

And on Friday, Nagisa visited Kawaguchi for the first time in what felt like an eternity, thought truthfully they had spoken less than a week ago. School was over for the day, and they had agreed to go to Nagisa's place to make dinner. When students walked by, they stared at Nagisa with awe and wonder.

"Nakagawa's wife left him." Kawaguchi apparently wasn't too old for gossip. "She's such a nice lady. She deserves better than him. But I have to say, I really did not think that those two were capable of something like that."

Nagisa could sense the bloodlust behind his friend's words. Of course. He was a teacher too, and teachers want to protect their students with their lives. Some aspects of the job never go away.

"Narayama's been doing some talking, I heard." Kawaguchi went on. "He had some personal grudges against those two, and he apparently knew that they were up to trouble was bullied into keeping quiet about the money they were stealing."

Nagisa had figured that much out, but he let his friend speak.

"And to think, I donated money to that fundraiser for the play!" He chided himself.

Nagisa grinned. "At least they don't get to keep the money now. I'm sure they'll it back." The pair of teachers walked on towards Nagisa and Akari's flat.

* * *

A few days later, the chief of police opened his mouth about whatever it was that happened in the evidence room.

"Did you hear?" Akari rushed into the kitchen. She shoved her phone in Nagisa's face. It was a news article.

 **Kunugigaoka Teachers Also Accused of Threatening Police, Vandalism**

"This really isn't looking up for them." Nagisa poured himself a glass of orange juice on this fine Saturday morning.

"Now that the investigation is in full swing, I think they'll have a hard time wiggling their way out of this one. Even if one of them is on the Board of Education, I doubt they'll stand for attempting to bomb the school for money." Akari got on her knees to face the baby in her high chair. The baby smiled and grabbed her face. Nagisa made funny faces at her. He felt at peace again.

The next day, the whole intrigue fell in on itself like a house of cards. Shibata confessed to the crime after hours and hours of interrogation that was seemingly getting nowhere. Now he and Nakagawa were in jail and the trail was planned for July. The news article on the Tokyo Times detailed that they were accused of money laundering, extortion, resisting arrest, terrorism, embezzlement, and jaywalking. The list of crimes associated with them and their posse just kept piling up.

Nagisa and Akari embraced tightly that night. "We're safe now," The bluenette whispered as a comfortable sleep took them for the first time in ages.

* * *

Everyone in Paradise High, teacher and student, was crowded into the assembly room at 10:00 a.m. sharp on Monday morning. It was time to give out the Teacher of the Year award.

Nagisa had honestly forgotten about that. He felt like he had more important things to worry about this semester. He wasn't looking forward to this, having some idea of who was going to get this award. But how would that be handled, considering what happened with him? With an eye on his class, the blue-haired student teacher walked towards the wall where he stood with his colleagues.

Principal Akino was at the podium, making his meaningless speech. "This is an award we only give out to the most excellent, qualified teachers in our very prestigious school."

The students snickered. It was a _public school_ , for crying out loud.

"And the recipient of the 2023 Teacher of the Year award is…" Even the principal seemed shocked with this outcome. His eyes practically popped out of his head. "Kenta Narayama. Congratulations!"

The response from the student body was also a surprise. Lots of hooting and hollering. Explosive claps and even an airhorn sounded off. One of the administrators looked annoyed and set off to find the culprit.

The middle-aged teacher walked slowly towards the podium to accept the award, hiding his blushing face. Nagisa knew he'd do the same if he were in his position.

"… Students." He put on his glasses, and the students all quieted down. "… It's been a trying time for me this year, for personal reasons. But this is my twenty-fifth year teaching, and I haven't lost my passion for it, even for one day. I have always wanted to devote my life to guiding the youth and encouraging an interest in the arts. To come to school every day and to see your bright smiling faces, that is enough for me to live my life off of. So I accept this award with pride and with honor."

Nagisa joined in the clapping. Of course, it was fitting that Narayama would win this award. He wasn't appreciated by the faculty, but if he could reach out to the students, well that was what being a teacher was all about. And it was even more fitting that no one payed enough attention to him to notice the impact that he had on his students. This, along with the antics of the duo who must not be named being uncovered, should be a lesson to the administration.

Classes resumed after that assembly. Nagisa stood at the front of the room, gesturing towards the English vocabulary that he had written. "See, the word 'defenestration', means-"

"Hey Shiota-sensei, do you know what's going to happen with Shibata-sensei and Nakagawa-sensei?"

"Hmm," Nagisa checked his email. There was a new announcement from the superintendent of the school.

 **To: The faculty and staff of Paradise High School**

 **From: Shinichi Inoue**

 **Subject: New Hires, Dismissals, and Other PSAs  
**

 **Hello staff and faculty,**

 **We have all been experiencing a rough week. I hope you are all managing well. Feel free to take it easy for a while, and it is the administration's recommendation to scale back on the assigned work, tests, and projects. Final exams and graduation will not be impacted by the event last Monday.  
**

 **Anyway, the topic that remained up in the air is the status of two Paradise High teachers who are suspected of orchestrating the threat. While there have been no conformations of their guilt, the evidence that exists is enough to convince the administration of Paradise High that they should not be welcome at this school and their employment contracts have thus been terminated. We are currently on the lookout for new hires to replace them for the next year and it is strongly encouraged that anyone reading this recommend this opportunity to anyone they know who is qualified and in need of a job.**

 **Feel free to read this email to your students.**

 **We wish you all a speedy recovery from this trauma,**

 **Shinichi Inoue, Superintendent of the Paradise School District**

"So there it is," Nagisa finished dictating the email to his class. "They're gone for good."

"Good riddance. I told you all they couldn't be trusted." Kazama insisted.

"It's a bit of a shame." Banno wistfully looked out the window. "When I had Nakagawa-sensei, I did really well in his class. I really thought he was a great teacher. To think he'd use us like that…"

Nagisa erased the board and wrote the word 'Sensei' at the top. "There's a lot more to being a great teacher than focusing on grades. Grades are only one part of who you are and what you are capable of. You can get good grades but have a terrible personality, or go after terrible ambitions. Like extorting money from the school. But remember what I told you, class."

"Which thing?" Aida asked.

"That anything can be a weapon if you sharpen it enough. You can take personality traits that would normally be negative and put them towards good use." Nagisa wrote that under the word 'sensei'.

"Shiota-sensei… considering what they tried to go to your fiancé, are you going to go after those guys?" Toshima asked the question that was on everyone's minds at some point this past week.

Nagisa smirked, and his class could have sworn that they saw his eyes glow and felt a draft somewhere.

"Don't be ridiculous, my assassin days are over."

* * *

Nagisa received another call that night. It was no surprise as to from whom it was (Kimura), but the words his old classmate spoke made Nagisa feel like he had just fallen into the ground.

"Nagisa?" Nagisa couldn't see it, but Kimura was twisting the phone cord out of boredom. "We want you to come down to the station whenever you can. This is going to sound like a strange request, but we have a job that needs to be done and I convinced my boss that you're the best guy for the job."

"What is it?" Nagisa's sleep deprivation was suddenly the last thing on his mind.

"We haven't gotten anything out of our interrogation of Nakagawa. I think you can put the fear of death in him and maybe then we'll get some answers."


	42. Chapter 42

Nagisa made his way to the police station the next day after school. He couldn't contain his apprehension. They were rid of it, finally, and he was going to help take care of the issue. _How apt_ , Nagisa basked in the sunlight as he walked to the station. The ducks quacked as he walked by. He stopped to throw some birdseed he had in his bag for this purpose.

The cold gray walls of the station were uninviting. But Nagisa knew he was welcome here. The door bell rung as he walked in.

"Nagisa Shiota?" The woman behind the front desk gave him a quizzical look. Nagisa nodded in affirmation.

"Well…" She looked him up and down. "Officer Kimura recommended you, and he's yet to lead us astray, so I'll trust you." She pointed to the left. "He's in room 11."

Nagisa thanked the lady and walked onward. He had to walk down winding hallways that never seemed to end until he arrived at his destination. Who knew this place was so big? If Nagisa was told a year ago that the town was so full of crime that it needed this many officers, he'd have laughed. Now it just seemed necessary. Taking a moment to psyche himself up, he opened the door and met his nemesis.

"Hello." Nagisa spoke first.

Nakagawa, who suddenly wasn't so handsome in that orange jumpsuit, became very interested in the floor. "They sent _you_ to interrogate me?"

"They sure did."

"… What time is it now?"

"4:15." Nagisa referenced the clock on the wall. No way he was pulling his phone out in front of this guy. He might try to grab it to get 'Haruna-sama's' number. Gag.

Silence.

"First, I just need to confirm who you are. Are you Shintaro Nakagawa?"

"I am." He crossed his arms, pouting.

"Your date of birth is March 27th, 1990?"

"It is."

"Okay, let's get started. I guess we should go in chronological order." Nagisa ran a few fingers through his silky blue hair. "Do you know who vandalized the art room?"

"I'm not telling you anything." It seemed that the English teacher finally found the courage to defend himself. "I want a lawyer."

"Then get one. But you have no choice but to talk to me now." Nagisa flipped the assassin switch. "Now what happened in the Art Studio?"

"... That guy."

"Who?"

"That guy. The art teacher."

"What about him?" Nagisa was already annoyed. At this rate, they were going to be here all night.

"Narayama. See, Mrs. Narayama and I met at a New Year's party last year. We hit it off, and well, I had an affair with her." He smirked.

Nagisa wrote all this down in his spiral notebook. "Go on. Tell me everything."

"It didn't last too long. Middle aged women are boring. So I dumped her when I met Hanako, and one way or another Narayama found out about our little secret."

"And? When was this?" This was all being recorded by a microphone hidden in the room (the defendant may or may not have known that), but Nagisa was sure to write every word he muttered, every tone, every inflection.

"Around the time of graduation. Anyway, he sent me a very angry email calling me every name under the sun." Wow, this guy actually sounded hurt and offended over that. "And on the first day of school this year, he barged into my room before class, uninvited and unannounced. I guess he thought he was gonna kick my ass or something. And Shibata and I were discussing you-know-what."

"What were you discussing exactly?" Nagisa paced around the room.

"He walked right in on the part where I said, 'As for all the money we'll take-'. And then we just stared at each other for a good thirty seconds. It was the most awkward experience of my life. Well, second to the time my wife met my girlfriend and I was just sitting there praying that she wouldn't open her mouth about us. "

"Uh… Maybe don't tell me about your love life." Nagisa sweatdropped. "What happened after that?"

"A whole lotta screaming. From him, that is. I grabbed him and choked him. It was pretty incoherent. Something about me being a bastard, I don't know. Is that really the worst he's got?"

"Do you have an exact quote?"

"No. But I had to let go when the bell rung, and he dashed off to his classroom."

"That still doesn't explain how the studio got vandalized."

"I was getting to that part. That was yours truly. I went there the first thing after school and gave him a good punch. We had a scuffle, if you could even call it that. The easels were knocked down and paints got everywhere. I still have the pair of pants that have a big green paint stain on the left leg."

"The police might confiscate that." Nagisa flipped to a new page in the book.

"I thought I broke his leg, because as I'm sure you've noticed he's walked with a limp ever since. But I don't know for sure. But I told him..." Nakagawa decided now was the time to be shy again. He stopped talking and looked at the wall next to him.

"You told him what?" Nagisa stopped pacing and turned to his target.

"You know what, it's none of your fucking business what I told him!" Nakagawa got up and slammed his hands on the table. This evidence must be _really_ incriminating.

Nagisa slowly began walking closer, with the most ambient smile he could muster. He walked right up to the target. "Oh it is **so** my fucking business, because you chose to involve my students, my fiancée and my child. There's no need for secrecy between us anymore. So say it."

Nakagawa's legs got weak and he fell back down into the chair. "I told him, 'You heard nothing about the money. If you did, we'll make you pay dearly for it.'"

"So you did." Nagisa went back to his pacing routine. "Did you have anything more to do with Narayama after that?"

"Oh, we sure did. Put the fear of Kami-sama in him. We bullied him into hiding our money in his room. That way, if someone found it, it doesn't look like it's ours." Nakagawa smiled evilly.

"You thought this out. At least, parts of it." Nagisa wrote that down. "The thugs you hired. Who are they?"

"I didn't hire them." Nakagawa shrugged. "At least, not initially. They knew Shibata. He introduced them to me when he proposed this idea. They said they had personal connections to Haruna-sama through her daddy, so they arranged to pursue her. I later went to them for advice, and they suggested the hostage situation."

"Do you know anything about the other 'businesses' they do?"

"Oh, they're a part of the mob." The wheels in Nakagawa's head started turning. He was going to jail, courtesy of that 'business partner' of his, why should he try to preserve these guys? Might as well sell them all out. Maybe he could get a plea bargain for revealing them, that was probably what Shibata was trying for. "Racketeering, fraud, money laundering, the kind of thing I love to do."

"And who started this whole scheme?"

"Shibata. We met when we worked together on the play last year, and he was the one who said we needed more money, one thing lead to another, and here we are right now." He put his palm to his cheek.

Figures. Time to move on the next topic.

"As for the final grades for the first semester, their release was delayed." Nagisa took a break and sat in the chair across from his target. He quickly thought better of the idea and got back up. He didn't want Nakagawa to take the opportunity to make things physical. "Were you behind that?"

"Shibata and I were. I gave the excuse to the principal that we needed the extra time to rehearse with our students for the play before we could worry their silly little heads about grades. He bought it, hook, line, and sinker."

"And what about the rest of the student body that was affected by that decision of yours?"

"Collateral damage." He shrugged.

* * *

Nagisa looked at the clock. It was already six p.m. "Regarding the topic of the play. I saw it-."

"Really? I had my eyes out for you and I didn't see you there." Nakagawa put his elbows on the table in front of him, the thing between himself and the man who caused his destruction.

"Disguises. They're wonderful." Nagisa almost sang. "Anyway, I was less than impressed. The actors were great, of course, but it almost looked like the directors put minimal effort in."

"Because we did." He was almost bragging now. "We took the money. The props were shit we bought from the 100 yen store, or hand-me-downs, or things from past years. The trees were branches we found and glued together."

"I suspected." Nagisa felt like he was a detective these past months, and everything was finally coming to fruition "And the car in the back?"

"The guys in the mob used it to take the money to launder." The English teacher leaned back in his chair, twiddling his thumbs.

Nagisa sighed. That particular confession took way shorter than he thought it would. "Next question: Was there any foul play involved in you getting on the board of education?"

This was the question that got that big explosive reaction out of Nakagawa. But not the type that Nagisa would have wanted. It was uproarious laughter. He fell over on the table, attempting to muffle his hysterics. Once he finally regained his composure, he spoke. "No! Have you seen everyone's reactions when I walk into the room? I'm like a celebrity in this school! Do you really think I needed to lie, manipulate, or twist anyone's arm to get myself into a position of power? Hell, they practically handed it to me and threw me a raise."

"Fine." Nagisa wasn't sure if he believed it, but it might be true. He made a note in his head to ask the teachers about this later. So he moved on to the next topic of discussion. This next one was admittedly just a personal grudge. "You were supposed to give out the invitations to the Christmas party to all the third year teachers."

"I was."

"And yet you didn't give one to me. Need I even ask why?"

"Isn't that obvious? It was because you were already suspicious, and we had to minimize the risk of you finding out about our requests for charity." Nakagawa yawned. He just wanted to go home, but that wasn't happening unless some of Shibata's friends in the Mafia paid bail. And last he heard, most of them got arrested too.

"That leads to the next question:" Nagisa wished he had a pair of glasses to take off and look cool right now. "Regarding the money you collected, what did you do with it?"

Nakagawa's face reddened. "Why do you care what we did with the money?"

"Answer me." Nagisa thought if he were a snake, he'd bare his fangs right now.

"You already have enough dirt on me, why would I give you more by taking about the money!?" He escalated to shouting. Neither of them knew it, but the people in the rooms down the hall heard and stopped what they were doing for a minute.

"Because you owe me that explanation after all you've put me through." Nagisa kept his voice as calm as he could, though he had the most overpowering urge to strangle this guy. "You've risked my students' lives, kidnapped my fiancée, and who knows what you thought of doing to my daughter. By the way, you better not tell me about the last one, or we'll have a whole new level of issues. Now I'll ask you one more time: What did you do with the money you collected for next year's "play"?" Nagisa was sure to add air quotes around the word 'play.

"We divided it." Nakagawa crossed his legs, finally resigned to the fact that he wasn't getting out of this one. "I got 40%, Shibata got 60% because he pulled strings from the shadows. He was the puppet master, if you will understand the metaphor. Never did get the chance to use it though."

"What were you going to do with it? That applies to all the money. What you stole from the drama club, what you collected through your little 'charity', what you wanted to collect from the ransom…"

"Buy a bigger house, go on vacation to France… Maybe buy Haruna-sama's affection. Whatever it is that rich people do."

Nagisa laughed. "She's not impressed by wealth."

* * *

It was now 7:30. Nagisa was getting tired, but truthfully he could stay up and do this for another few hours if need be. "What is the case with the room in the station where they keep all the evidence? Were you behind its vandalism too?"

"That was Shibata. Ask him about it." He was overjoyed to pass the buck to someone else.

"Why did you do it? And why did you intimidate the chief?" Nagisa rested his hand on the table.

"Same thing as with Narayama. He found out about our operation. He even had the bag of cash that we stole. So Shibata took that back and destroyed whatever other evidence was lying around. And we put the fear of Kami-sama in him too."

Nagisa looked at his now full spiral notebook. He had all of his questions answered, at least all of the ones that this guys could answer for him. "Do you have anything more to say for yourself?"

"Nothing much. I wasn't happy with a simple life as a teacher, so I pursued more. Everyone wants money. I don't think I can be blamed."

"Actually, you're wrong. I don't think anyone will feel any sympathy towards you after this. You were willing to put children in danger over a couple of extra bucks? And your precious 'Haruna-sama', she's not impressed, believe me." Nagisa started towards the door. "But I think we're done here."

"Um… one thing before you go." Nakagawa muttered, still not looking at his interrogator.

"Hm?" Nagisa turned his head towards him.

"You're really engaged to Haruna-sama?" His voice trembled when speaking the name of his idol.

It was now Nagisa's turn to ignore his question.

"Will you give her my regards? I wrote a fanfiction about she and I, it got three-hundred reviews on-"

"No."

Nagisa exited the room promptly. He shut the door, stood for a minute, then caught his breath. He just had that conversation. He couldn't believe it. He had all the answers (assuming they were correct).

"Nagisa," Akari's voice entered his right ear.

Nagisa look to see the love of his life holding their daughter in her arms. Her face was the best thing he'd seen all day.

"I wanted to surprise you, after the day I'm sure you've had." She walked up to Nagisa and he wrapped his arms around her.

"You're a wonderful surprise." He heard Nakagawa's voice on the other side of the door, as well as another voice. It seemed like he was taken back to the jail by an officer. Nagisa thought he might've heard a muffled "But Haruna-sama's out there, I heard her-", or maybe it was just his imagination.

Kimura approached his old classmates. "How did it go?"

"I think the court will have plenty to go off of." Nagisa felt like an enormous weight had been lifted from his shoulders as he handed the notebook to his friend.

"By the way, all of the guys who were the muscle men are being interrogated by the boss right now. I wish I was there, I've seen him interrogate and it's beautiful."

A shout emerged from down the hall. "No, you WILL speak about this! Why did you think it was a good idea to kidnap a bunch of kids, a celebrity, and a literal baby!?"

"Yeah… sounds like it." Nagisa almost laughed. "I just wish I we had multiple recordings of that interrogation. A written one and an audio one might not be enough."

A voice came out of Nagisa's phone. "Don't worry, Nagisa-kun, I've recorded it all!~"

Not expecting that, Nagisa pulled out his phone to see a bright pink haired girl taunting him with a silly smile.

"Ritsu!"


	43. Chapter 43

**This is a double chapter. If you did not read chapter 42, go do that before reading this one.** **Apparently this website has a bug where it won't mark your story as having recently updated and push it to the top of the archive if it's been less than 24 hours since your last update. So I'm just gonna sit and hope you all saw the last few chapters and go see how much I can do of the next two before I pass out because it's 4:30 a.m. here.**

* * *

 _Friday, March 1st_ , the board read. _14 days 'til finals, 16 days 'til graduation._

"That's right, class!" Nagisa beamed with the enthusiasm of Koro-sensei. "You might have forgotten about finals with all that's been happening over the last two weeks, but they are fast approaching!"

His twelve students looked up at him with question marks above their heads. "Please go easy on us, Shiota-sensei." Aida rubbed his eyes.

"I don't make the test, so don't ask me." Nagisa cocked his head to the side. "All I do is teach you what you need to know, and whoever makes the test assesses it. Really, it's also sort of a test of how I did."

"If you say so," His students stretched and yawned, eager to start their weekends to catch up on whatever they missed while panicking about the aftermath of being held as hostages.

College acceptance letters came out that day, but most of the students waited until Monday to open them in class. More drama that way. More celebration. But the class did not think about the humiliation that it might bring.

Toshima ran up to his teacher and shoved the letter in his face. "Look, I got into my top pick!"

"That's great!" Nagisa's heart swelled with pride as he looked around and saw his students in celebration. He was about to pull a box full of party hats out from under the desk, until he saw Banno's sad face. He put the box down and walked toward his student.

"I'm guessing you didn't get into your top choice."

"I didn't." He stared at his feet. "I guess this is what I get for spending all night partying instead of doing homework."

"Maybe this is just the product of that. Or maybe you just aimed too high. Or more probably a combination of both. It's pointless to speculate right now. Did you at least get into your second choice?"

"No."

Sweatdrop. "Did you get into your safety school?"

"Yes. Just barely."

"Sometimes just barely is good enough. Colleges aren't segregated based on how well you do in class, like high school is. They'll be no difference between you and the people who passed the exam with flying colors." Nagisa then switched his tone to make it clear that he was addressing the whole class.

"That goes for all of you. Not going to your dream school won't ruin your chances at living a happy and productive life. Putting forth the effort from here on out is most of the battle." He now handed out the party hats. "To all of your futures."

His students smiled. "Thanks, Shiota-sensei."

 _What a way to start the week_ , Nagisa thought as he opened his attendance book. "When I call your name, respond. Aida?"

"Here."

* * *

At lunchtime, Nagisa overheard the students talking. Today, for a change, they were all crowded together and interacting as a group rather than in pairs or groups of three. Nagisa would have never expected to see that development when he walked in this room a year ago.

"So I guess we're not doing a graduation trip." Izumoto played with his rice instead of eating it.

"Again, if we even tried the principal would just shut it down. He wants to make an example of us, I guess." Kazama stared out the window. The birds were pecking at the ground, which was no longer frozen and now had blades of green grass emerging from it.

"We might be able to figure out something." Azuki took the opportunity to steal some of his friend's sushi.

"Azuki, really?" Nagisa gave him the look of shame. "Give that back."

He cowered away. "Sorry Kazama, Shiota-sensei..."

"Now that that ship has sailed, can we all at least go to Kyoto or somewhere? Someplace simple and cheap." Toshima looked through his binder full of homework and notes for Chemistry. He sure hoped he wasn't missing anything, because he didn't have time to do it now.

 _There's a place…_

Nagisa could have sworn he heard Koro-sensei whispering in his ear. _There's a place they haven't seen yet…_ The Koro-sensei like voice went on.

Nagisa stood up with that realization. All eyes in the room were on him, thanks to that outburst.

"I'm not sure if it qualifies as a 'trip', but I've got a place for us to go."

"Whatever this is, I'm getting the idea you just pulled it out of your ass…" Takemura picked his chopsticks off of the floor, cursing the fact that he'd have to wash them again.

"No, I've wanted to do this for a while. Let's meet up in front of the school at 10 a.m. on Sunday. Dress for the outdoors."

"This isn't going to be a nature walk is it?" Kagato frowned.

"I wouldn't call it that. But the bugs are coming back this time of year." Nagisa's student squirmed in his seat.

"Yeah, I hope we'll have a repeat of that time in our first year when a centipede crawled across the floor and Kagato screamed like a five year-old!" A certain redhead snickered.

"Shut up, Kotori!"

* * *

The week flew by in a flurry of chalk dust, and Nagisa's students were now sitting in front of the school's front gate at 10:02 in the morning on a bright Sunday. They rubbed their eyes. They would normally still be asleep at this time. What did their chibi sensei want now?

"Where is he…" Shisaki tapped his foot impatiently. "He's normally here thirty minutes early for class, what's holding him up?"

Their teacher's voice cut through their thoughts. "Sorry, class!" He ran up to them, panting. "Sorry I'm late. My daughter is sick."

"We don't need to know the details, let's just get going." Tsukuda grabbed his water bottle out of his backpack and huffed.

"Alright. It's this way, towards the west side of town." They set off, trusting their teacher. He had never lead them wrong before.

This time, however, they feared that he may indeed be leading them wrong. He led them to Kunugigaoka Junior High. Why would he do that? What was so special about this place? It was a really prestigious school, sure, but how did this factor into one of his 'lessons'?

Just as they got to the front entrance, he held out his arm to block them from entering. "We're not going in here."

"When why are we here? Just to admire the view?" Aida snarked.

Nagisa pointed up towards the mountain. " _That's_ where we're going."

They were only halfway up the mountain, but his students were already complaining.

"Why did you make me do this, Shiota-sensei? I'm not athletic." Hamada groaned.

Nagisa kicked a pebble out of the way. "It's not that bad. I used to make this journey every morning, and look at me."

"What do you mean you made this journey every day?" He kicked the pebble back when it rolled down the hill.

Nagisa just looked at his class with an expression of happiness. "You'll see."

The field that the building was in was kept very well, thanks to its alumni. The air was fresh and the plants were blooming. Nagisa stood with his eyes closed for a second, breathing in the sweet scent of that environment and all the experiences he had in it. "Class," He demanded their attention. "This was where I went to junior high school."

"You went to school here…" Several of his students unconsciously repeated, as they were trying to connect dots in their heads.

"My graduating class bought this mountain after we left the school." Nagisa reached down to touch the grass. It was springing back to life. "We maintain it on a regular basis. It's more or less a private park now."

A voice sung out from Nagisa's phone. "I can dictate a full history of the area. In the Haeden Era, this land wasn't even above water-"

Nagisa pulled it out of his pocket to see Ristu on the screen, wearing glasses and reading from a thick textbook.

Nagisa wore his signature expression. "Ritsu, I appreciate the help, but we might want to start a little more recent."

The digital girl had emotes over her head. "Okay Nagisa! I'll leave that part to you!" then the screen faded to black.

The students were staring at him with the most shocked expressions. "Who was that..."

"An old classmate." Nagisa saw the looks on the faces of his students now. The reaction was obvious: they didn't know what to think anymore.

Nagisa pointed to the building. "And if you look to your right, you'll see my old classroom."

"That shack? It doesn't even look like it has AC!" Aida interrupted.

"Just see the inside." Nagisa lead them inside the building. His students hesitated. Should they really go in there? The classroom radiated some feeling they couldn't place. Bloodlust was an aspect of it, but there were also hints of nostalgia and longing. Nagisa waited once he saw their reluctance. "Come on, it's okay. I'm one of the co-owners of this park, you know."

Class 3-5 took that as an okay, and slowly entered the shack one by one.

Inside it was more spacious than one would have thought just by looking at it from the outside. It smelled musty in here, but the smell was clearly comforting to the teacher of 3-5. He breathed in deeply, then sneezed. He motioned for his students to sit down in the desks.

"I'm going to take you back in time for a minute. An event I'm sure you all remember. We've talked about it before in class. Nine years ago, the moon blew up."

"Of course, how could anyone forget that?" Toshima sat in Nagisa's old desk.

"And the guy who did it? Remember him? A silly octopus-looking guy?" Nagisa took the remaining chalk and drew his beloved teacher.

"Yeah, I remember him, what are you…" The class's mouths hung open as Nagisa illustrated the person (Octopus) he wanted them to meet so badly. He was as detailed as possible, and shaded Koro-sensei's cap and gown precisely. His big permanent smile had the exact amount of teeth. He even had two pieces of chalk in his tentacles like chopsticks.

"Yeah. I've seen him before. Lots of times. But why do you keep drawing him?" Kagato was getting a bit frustrated.

Nagisa leaned against the chalkboard, looking out onto the first class he ever taught. _This was Koro-sensei's view every day._ "I ask you, does he look out of place in this room?"

Nagisa's twelve students went silent with what they were just told. "Y-you mean…"

"Yes, Koro-sensei, as Akari thought to call him, was my teacher for my last year at this school. And he taught us in this classroom, on this mountaintop." Nagisa looked through the shelves to try to find some remaining anti-sensei weapons or something to provide more evidence.

Meanwhile, Izumoto was doing some math in his head. He jumped up out of his desk (Kataoka's old desk) once the realization came to him. "Your last year here was the year the moon exploded!"

Takemura covered his mouth so that he wouldn't cry out. "Wait wait wait. The octopus was the guy who blew up the moon. And he was your teacher!?"

"That he was." Nagisa smiled. It was the same smile he gave Kagato on his first day at Paradise High. Both a welcome and a challenge.

Tsukuda's hand shot right up (it may have not been a school day, but he assumed the same rules must apply in a school setting)."Uh, Shiota-sensei, if I recall correctly, that octopus monster was taken out by his students."

It wasn't a question, but Nagisa had no qualms answering it. His blue eyes glinted in spite of the ample sunlight in the room.

"That's true. He was. And yes, I was one of those who did it. We all played a part. I was the killing blow."

3-5 sat in shock. In hindsight, it really did make sense. All the talk about assassins and killing, the request to kill him before graduation, how he seemed to predict every trick up their sleeves, it made sense that he was an experienced killer. But why was he so damn _nice_? And why become a teacher after all that?

"I'm speaking without fear of judgement now, because I know you all won't do that. There will be certain experiences in your life that will shape who you are as a person, what your goals are, and who you look up to. Mine's happened during that year. For some of you, you might have already had those life-altering experiences. Some of you will face them in a few years, or ten years, or when you're fifty. Knowing and killing Koro-sensei was what put me on this path. My mentor as a teacher is Koro-sensei. He was the best teacher I've ever had, and the reason I became a teacher at all. If, during this whole year I've spent teaching you, I have made his soul proud even once, that is enough for me."

"So…" Banno's voice rose above the silence. "That's why you're asking us to kill you? Is it to carry on this as a tradition?"

"I'm going to refrain from using that word." Nagisa leaned against the desk. "I'm just using what I learned from my mentor. He taught me that the way to connect with a student is to use the bond of target and assassin, as well as that of teacher and student. This is my way of relating to you and teaching you."

Azuki had found one of the anti-sensei knives that was hidden in Yada's desk. He raised his hand. "Does the 'kill me before graduation' challenge still apply?"

That look in Nagisa's eyes returned. "Of course it does, so long as it doesn't interfere with your studies."

Nagisa spent the rest of the day avoiding anti-sensei attacks from his students. _This is what this room was made for,_ he thought as an anti-sensei knife tapped him on the head.

* * *

The next generation of the assassination classroom came to school the next day, and the day after that, and for the whole week following. They balanced trying to assassinate their teacher with studying for the upcoming finals. Whenever it would lean more towards the former, Shiota-sensei would gently scold them to stay focused on the task at hand.

The day finally arrived. Nagisa waited outside the gymnasium to greet his students (he was one of very few teachers who did). "Give 'em hell," He said with a smile. When the doors were finally shutting to begin the test, Nagisa made his way back to the room, the thought that this was the last time he would see the students before graduation weighing his heart down.


	44. Chapter 44

**Again, this is a double post, Chapter 43 was posted 10 hours ago. The epilogue will be posted when it's done (which will be very soon, I've already written half of it).**

* * *

Nagisa's final day of that first year ended when the final bell rung at four in the afternoon. The students were now done with their exams and the year was over. He looked around the classroom. Sure, he'd be here next year, but it wouldn't be filled with the same faces. A whole new gang of students would replace them (Nagisa twitched at the thought; these students could not be _replaced_ ). Nagisa assumed they too would be what the school labeled as dropouts and rejects, as 3-5 was the special placement class. And he'd tell them the same thing, and he'd teach them and guide them, and he'd do the same thing for years. But what would become of this year's class? Would Takemura ever go back to Kagoshima? Would Kasegawa ever move away from her toxic mother? Would Toshima ever figure out what he wanted to do with his life?

So many questions, and Nagisa needed to know the answers to them all. He went on online to check his students' social media pages and found that they were all completely barren. No new posts since the beginning of the year. If they were this inactive, how would he keep up with them? Nagisa wrote down his number on 12 pieces of paper and put it on each of the students' desks, inside their yearbooks. These would be picked up on the day of graduation. They'd say their goodbyes, and the year would be over.

 _The year would be over._

Nagisa couldn't hold it back anymore. It was then that he lowered his head, and, with the thought that no one was looking, let out the most cathartic cry he'd had since Kaede was born.

* * *

On the morning of graduation, Nagisa got up bright and early again. He made breakfast for his family, kissed Akari and their daughter goodbye, and walked out the door. He was stopped by Akari's voice.

"Wait, I want to go."

Nagisa held out his hand for her to grab. "You sure?"

"Yes. The school knows about us anyway. I want to see your students graduate." Akari got her coat on and locked the door, pushing Kaede in her stroller.

The cherry blossoms bloomed early this year. As they crossed the bridge over the river, both former assassins paused to look at the flowing water. It bubbled up and looked blue in the morning light. Last year at this time it looked the same, and it would look the same again next year.

 _Some things never change_ , Nagisa reached down to grab his daughter's little hand. But some things would. Kaede would learn to talk and walk, and go off to high school herself one day. Just like Nagisa's students would grow up and lead lives that would make him proud.

The soccer field was crowded, absolutely swamped with people. Graduation ceremonies brought people together like that, Nagisa reasoned as he searched for a place for them to stand.

The scores for the final exam of the year were posted over the soccer scoreboard. Since Nagisa was petite, he was able to slip through the crowds and look upon the products of his and his students' hours and hours of studying and preparation. Nagisa's eyes widened when he saw it.

Shigeki Aida, 27th place. Yoshio Azuki, 39th place. Hiro Izumoto, 52nd place. Ichiro Kagato, 51st place. Mamoru Kazama, 35th place. Kotori Kasegawa, 41st place. Kimiya Shisaki, 21st place. Konosuke Takemura, 46th place. Yukito Tsukuda, 22nd place. Kentaro Toshima, 14th place. Moritaka Hamada, 43rd place. Hayata Banno, 61st place.

Nagisa's eyes were beset by tears for the second time in a short few days. He turned around to find his class standing there. They didn't speak. They just held their breath.

"Class…" Nagisa sniffled.

"I've never done that well before in my life." Tsukuda fought back a sob. His classmates nodded in agreement.

"And," The bluenette hiccuped. "That's your final assignment for this year. You have graduated Class 3-5 of Paradise High. You have my blessing to go out into the world." The class took their seats as the announcement was called that graduation would start.

When Nagisa went back to stand on the sidelines with Akari, a crowd of people had gathered around her.

"Is that Haruna Mase?" A child pointed with wide eyes.

Akari smiled and waved.

"Are you really Haruna-sama?" A parent came up to her.

Akari put her index finger to her lips, then pointed to the graduation ceremony on the field. "Let's not interrupt, now shall we?"

By the time Class 3-5 was announced by the principal, Nagisa had to hold Akari's hand for stability. He sobbed with every name called. With every footstep they took to get their diplomas, he gulped.

At the final commencement, he stood to clap with everyone else. And when they threw their caps, a whole clump of cherry blossoms fell on Nagisa's head.

Nagisa stood from afar, and waved at each of his students with misty eyes. It was time for them to be on their own, without his guidance.

"I guess we couldn't kill him, but it doesn't matter." Hamada shrugged. "The underclassmen have the next few years to do that."

"We killed that final, for what it's worth." Azuki laughed. "C'mon. Project Graduation is calling our names."

* * *

Nagisa and Akari saw Karma later that night. His apartment was luxurious, full of artifacts that his parents brought him from their travels around the world and fancy paintings and comfy couches. He even had a slow cooker!

"Okuda will be over in thirty minutes." Karma whispered as if she were already there. "Don't let her know, but I think I'm going to ask her to move in with me."

Nagisa felt giddy. "It took you two long enough to finally start dating."

Karma blushed. "Who said we were dating? My place is just closer to her school-"

"Remember when I went through that "We're not dating" phase with Akari? And look at us now." Nagisa got joy out of being the one to finally tease Karma now.

"I sure do." He waved his hand to indicate a change of topic. "Anyways, I'll get the tea."

Karma came back into the room with a pitcher of green tea and their 3-E yearbook to look at.

"So, what do you have to say about your first year teaching, Nagisa?"

Nagisa swished around his glass of green tea. "I'm feeling so many different emotions right now."

"Did you like it?" Karma ruffled his friend's blue hair.

"Of course I did." Nagisa sighed, contemplating checking on the baby in the other room. "I just don't know if I'm ready to say goodbye and begin another year."

"I don't think any of you are, but time marches on. I'm gonna miss being the youngest, hottest bureaucrat in the whole damn government, but here I am now." Karma poured them another glass of tea, as Akari was still breastfeeding Kaede, so they all refused to drink alcohol. "To another year in Koro-sensei's honor."

"To Koro-sensei." Nagisa and Akari clanked their glasses together.

* * *

 _Monday, April 1st_. Nagisa Shiota, a teacher of class 3-5 of Paradise High School for the second year in a row, walked toward his school for the new year. His gait carried confidence and pride. _Another year. Another chance to prove myself to you, Koro-sensei._ He stopped to look at the sky. _Have I made you proud?_ He had a feeling the answer was yes.

The room was just as he left it at graduation. The floors were clean to the point of being shiny, the windows perfectly transparent, and the desks in an exact 6 by 5 grid. Not a chair out of place. He looked at his phone. _Three minutes left until the new school year begins._

The students all came in at once. And there was enough of them to almost fill the entire classroom! _I have twice as many to deal with now…_ Nagisa almost bit his nails. _Can I manage this?_

Nagisa did not realize that he was spacing out. A student's gruff voice tore him from his reverie. "Hey jackass! Are you going to actually start class or just sit there with your thumb up your ass all day?"

"Huh?" Nagisa saw that his students were all crowded around the center of the room playing some kind of card game.

"I mean, feel free to do nothing all day, I'd like an extra day of vacation." One of the smaller ones sneered.

Of course. He forgot for a minute that this was the special placement class. These kids were labeled by the school as unfit for mainstream classes for one reason or another. This was to be expected.

Nagisa cracked his knuckles. "Okay class. The bell has rung, please take your seats."

"No."

"Why would we do that?"

"You better not be threatening us."

"I'm not threatening you, I'm just telling you, you need to get in your seats." Nagisa took out his attendance book, having some idea of where this was going.

One student, another big and burly one, walked up to Nagisa. He put a hand on the top of his head, as if to remind him of how short he was.

"Say that again, and I'll kill you."

A flip switched again. Assassin mode was on. _Kill... Kill me, huh?  
_

At the perfect moment, Nagisa dropped the book. As all the students eyes were on the book, he clapped in front of his student's face.

It was like a shockwave went through him. The student fell down and landed on the floor. Nagisa picked up his head to make the student look at him.

"I do hope you _can_ kill me. Before graduation, that is."

Picking the attendance book up from the ground, he stood at his desk. He looked over the new students. He felt the presence of Koro-sensei again.

"Take your seats, class. Let's begin."


	45. Chapter 45

**PSA: This is a triple chapter. This is the epilogue and the final chapter of this story, so go read 43 and 44 first.**

 **We have reached the end. This was an emotional chapter for me to write. It'll be rough watching the story I've spent the last six months devoting my free time to be marked as complete and have no more updates. This was my first fanfiction, so it's even harder.**

 **That being said, I am not leaving. I still have a two ongoing AssClass fics (That I've neglected in the past two months to finish this, sorry followers of Aftershocks and/or Fake Smiles) and I have a few more in the works (I swear I will write about Gakurio someday. Also lots and lots of Nagikae is incoming). I may even write a sequel to this. I just won't be posting as often because I will be in Japan.**

 **Please leave your final thoughts (Especially on the last few chapters because they were not easy to write) in the reviews. Thanks for taking the ride with me, and a happy New Year to everyone.**

* * *

The calendar in the Shiota-Yukimura residence had today's date, August 10th, circled in bright red marker. But there was no one in the Shiota-Yukimura residence today. Today, Nagisa Shiota and Akari Yukimura (also known by many other names) were at their old schoolhouse on the top of the Koro-sensei Memorial Mountain.

The woman known to many as Haruna Mase was in the room that 3-E once had class in. Okuda and Kanzaki were fussing over her makeup and dress. It was her day, after all. Her's and Nagisa's.

"Can you breathe if I pull it tighter?"

"Are you sure you want that lipstick? You can borrow this one."

The future Akari Shiota looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't want to stroke her own ego, but she thought she looked better now than she ever did on tv or in any movies. "It's perfect." She had been dreaming about this day for years.

Akari went to the front of the building to meet her father while her friends stuck last-minute flowers in her hair. "It's time now."

Nagisa looked out at the crowd of his friends and family. Karma, the best man, stood next to him and wore the happiest expression his best friend had ever seen him wear. Gakushuu Asano was in the very back, as if embarrassed to be there. He ignored his father's inquiries about when he would get married too. But their 3-E classmates made up most of the audience. Sugino shot the groom a thumbs up. Okajima was the photographer. Kawaguchi and Narayama sat towards the middle. And Nagisa's mother sat in the front, a mere six feet away from him, with the seven month-old Kaede Shiota in her lap.

Kaede reached her arm out. "Daa," She said. Her eyes, which were now clearly as blue as Nagisa's, sparkled.

Nagisa's heart leaped. She was only saying 'Ma' and 'Da', but that was all they needed to hear for now.

The music started playing (courtesy of Bitch-sensei). When Nagisa saw his bride walk down the aisle, his breath was taken away.

Akari was wearing the same dress what she wore on that night in the silver grass field. She was on the arm of Satoshi. Smiling that movie star smile, but it was still slightly different. It was better, like something that she refused to show the rest of the world.

She joined hands with him as they traded vows and the rings were traded. Tears were shed in the audience. "My baby!" Nagisa's mom cried.

Both of the the pair could have sworn they saw Koro-sensei and Yukimura sensei in the distance, in front of the building, themselves holding hands (tentacles?). Nagisa felt their blessings upon them. _Koro-sensei, Yukimura-sensei, please watch over us._

The reception was held in the classroom. The giant pudding stood tall in the center of the room, decorated with icing, berries, and whipped cream. As the guests devoured their meals, they gave their congratulations to their couple.

"And that brings us here. I still have all the photos of _that_ little day, but I swore not to release them." Karma finished his speech with an evil smile, then handed the microphone to Nagisa's parents.

Nagisa stood at the podium, Akari stood at his side. Just as they were done cutting the slices of pudding, and handing them to their guests (extra pudding for Akari), the door opened.

Nagisa was amazed. Kagato walked in, followed by Izumoto, Aida, and Tsukuda. Kazama and Toshima came in behind, carrying a big wrapped box. Takemura, Azuki, Shisaki, and Banno rushed in. Kasegawa and Hamada looked around the room, taking note of by whom they were surrounded. All were wearing somewhat formal clothes.

"What? I haven't seen you in forever!" Nagisa missed his pigtails a bit at this moment, because they would have bounced at the shock.

"We thought it would be funny to come by and crash your wedding." Kazama patted him on the back.

"By the way, here's our wedding gift to you." Toshima gingerly handed the gift (a big fan to cope with the summer weather) to his former teacher.

"Thanks." Nagisa took it and needed help to put it down. "Why don't you stay for a while? There's plenty of pudding."

The hours flew by. Laughter, music, and dancing filled the classroom.

Nagisa's students got up and collected their belongings. "We have to go now. We have homework assigned over the break."

"Well, good on you for doing it." Nagisa watched as they left the room and walked off into the sunset. In the background, Kanzaki screamed as she caught Akari's boquet.

Kasegawa took a moment to pause, then turned around and threw something at Nagisa. He caught it as an instinct. It was the master key to the school.

"I-I forgot about this!" Nagisa was floored.

"Yeah, I figured I should give that back or something. I guess it's yours now." She ran off to join the crowd of her former classmates to run off to who knows where to do who knows what.

Nagisa took a few steps after them, but decided to just yell the question.

"Wait! Who does this rightfully belong to?"

Kasegawa turned around with a smile. "Isn't it obvious? It was Nakagawa-sensei's."

* * *

Nagisa walked out of the police station. It was a long day, he had been called in to interrogate another suspect associated with the intrigue. He was the messenger. But he had cracked under pressure and admitted to it all. Nagisa paused when walking down the street. He saw someone who he swore he'd seen before. He could have just gone home to his family, but the assassin instinct took over. He subtly ran after his target, like a snake.

Panting, Nagisa struggled to catch up. So he pretended he was chasing Koro-sensei once again, and picked up speed.

His target stopped, causing Nagisa to bump into him. "Who is this- Oh, Nagisa!" The target turned around. It was Gakuho Asano.

"Asano-san! Sorry for chasing you, but what are you doing here?"

"Shiota-san!" Asano looked at his old student. He hadn't aged a day. "Did I ever tell you where my new school is opening up?"

Nagisa had an apprehensive feeling. "No, where?"

"Just down the street from Paradise High." The former principal flashed that smile that for a year sent chills down Nagisa's spine. But it bothered him no longer.

"Oh, that's no threat to me. You'll have to be rivals with Gakuto Akino." Nagisa fought back uproarious laughter. His boss better prepare himself.

* * *

On a wonderful October morning, the news was broken. The trial was put off for so long and drew out for months, but it finally ended. Nagisa was sitting at the kitchen table, his daughter in the high chair next to him. The article title that he was reading was unbelievable. "Akari? You might want to see this."

 **Paradise High Teachers Sentenced to Life in Prison for Terrorist Threats, Up to 40 Years for Other Crimes**

Akari approached Nagisa from behind and wrapped her arms around his neck affectionately. "The problem is taken care of for good now." She snuck a kiss on his shoulder.

Nagisa felt like he was flying. The school was safe, their home was safe… "Let's celebrate tonight." He got up to get the bottle of wine from the cabinet. "I'll call over our friends."

Akari was now at the window, watching the leaves fall. "Um, we may want to skip the wine."

"Why?"

"Because there's something else to celebrate…" Akari placed her hands over her belly.

"What?"

Akari walked toward him with a big smile, the most genuine he had ever seen from her. She whispered in his ear.

" _I'm pregnant again._ "

* * *

Nagisa stood at the front of the classroom for yet another day. He wiped down the chalkboard with wet paper towels, ignoring the pencils and pens that were used as projectiles against him. "And that, kids, is how to make a giant pudding."

One of the student's hands went up. "Wouldn't it collapse under its own weight?"

Nagisa sat on the top of the desk. "No, not if you follow these steps. I would know, I've made this before."

"Uh…" The kid in the back raised his hand. "Under what circumstances did you feel the need to make a giant pudding the size of a swimming pool?"

Nagisa felt the snake emerging again. Was it that time? _Yes it was._

"Land a hit on me first, then I'll tell you."


End file.
